The Wedding of the Century?
by SabreDae
Summary: A post-Watershed story. If Kate says yes, can they really throw the wedding of the century? Or will the job that you can never really leave behind ruin the big day? The road from the engagement to the wedding is long, will Kate and Rick make it there?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I staunchly said to myself that I wouldn't do this, that I wouldn't write a post-Watershed story because there were already so many out there and everyone had already covered all the possible angles. Originally, the idea I had was just going to be a wedding storyline where it had been established that Kate had said yes, and therefore didn't immediately follow on from where Watershed left off but could have taken place quite soon after. However, when entertaining ideas for Caskett fanvideo music, a certain song by Lawson (extra points to whoever can work out which one by some of the lines I've manipulated to put into this) inspired this chapter and I decided to change my idea slightly. I hope you enjoy both this chapter and the rest of the story that will follow.**

* * *

"Katherine Houghton Beckett, will you marry me?"

Of all the scenarios she imagined on the way to meet him, this was one she hadn't expected at all, and that surprised her because she was a detective. It was her job to have everything figured out, and for once in her life, she didn't.

He was still kneeling in front of her, waiting, and she watched as that hard look he'd had since she'd arrived finally faded.

"Kate?" And there was the loving man she'd fallen in love with again. Emotion and uncertainty made his voice waver, his gentle tone pushing through the determined one that had been gripping him ever since they'd had that damn argument.

"I-" She didn't know what to say. Had Richard Castle really just proposed to her? At their special place? She remembered him giving advice to Ryan just a few years before: _'It's got to be big.'_ But Castle simply getting down on one knee, just as she thought he was going to leave her, was anything but big. It was modest. It was private. It was intimate, it was just _them. _All she could think was that he'd listened to her; he'd been listening all along, because he'd picked the one place that was special to them.

Reaching out, Castle took one of her hands and felt the tremors running through her entire body practically matching the frantic rate his heart was beating at. Looking into her eyes, noticing the unshed tears collecting, he told her, "Kate, everything's going to be alright." It broke his heart, but he continued anyway, "You don't have to answer if you aren't ready to."

"No, I am ready to," she managed to reply shakily. She could hardly believe she was going to say it, but really, what else could she have said. Richard Castle was the man who had healed her and brought her back to life. Literally. He was the man who had spent two years waiting for her, the man who was _still_ waiting for her. The man who had already had two failed marriages, and had insisted he wouldn't make that mistake again. She knew he was terrified, but there he was taking the chance that she was his '_third time's the charm_'. The man she was sure would follow her everywhere for the rest of her life, if that was to Washington or to the precinct every day, and the man she was willing to put her job on hold for because he was her one and done. "Yes, I'll marry you, Castle." She couldn't help the smile or the little laugh that erupted out of her at the relief that washed over his face as he pushed the ring onto her finger.

Those tears that had been clinging to the corners of her eyes finally rolled free and made their way down her cheeks, but he swiped them away with gentle, caressing thumbs as he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers.

"I love you, Kate. Always."

"Always," she agreed, resting her forehead against his. It was moments like this that made the swings their special place. He was still on one knee in front of her, both of his hands now gripping the chains of her swing to keep it steady, to keep her close. "I'm not taking the job in Washington," she said suddenly, realising that even though it had been the whole reason she had come to meet him; she hadn't yet shared the news.

"Kate, I said no matter what you decide…if it's what you want-"

"-It isn't," she cut him off. "Sure, it's a great opportunity and a part of me knows I would be good at it, but..." He didn't look convinced and she didn't know what else she could say to make him see that she wasn't going anywhere, certainly not without him. "I want to share with you something a close friend once told me. He said, 'Putting the job ahead of your heart is a mistake. Risking our hearts is why we're alive. The last thing you want to do is look back on your life and wonder, if only.' And Royce was right, Castle. I realised today that as important as my job is to me, for the first time in my life since my mother died, I have a _home _again, and it's right here with you, in New York, in the loft with Martha and Alexis, and at the precinct with Lanie and the boys."

The smile that spread across his face was unstoppable. It was ecstatic, pure happiness radiating out of him and into her. She didn't care that the parents in the park had stopped watching their children to look at them. She didn't care that she was going to ruin her jeans, she just got down on her knees with him.

"There's nowhere else I'd rather be," she assured him, her arms wrapping around his neck, tugging at his shirt collar to pull him closer, her fingers threading into the hair at the nape of his neck.

He kissed her again, feeling the need to touch her, be close to her. "Then let's go home," he murmured against her lips. She beamed back at him and stood up, bringing him up from where he was still kneeling. His knees popped painfully, but he hardly noticed because Katherine Beckett was staying in New York, holding his hand, and was wearing the engagement ring he'd bought her. Katherine Houghton Beckett was his fiancée, but more than that, one day she was going to be Katherine Houghton Castle, his wife. And though it was something he'd been dreaming and fantasising about for so many years now, never once had he believed it would be his reality.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading. The next chapter will hopefully be up next week. I'd really appreciate any feedback you might have. Also, just to let you all know this is the first time I've ever done a cover for any of my stories, so feel free to comment on that too.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here's the promised second chapter. Thanks so much for your response to the first chapter. I'm glad to see so many of you liked it.**

* * *

A week had passed since she'd said yes, and it was surprising for Kate Beckett that despite having made the biggest decision of her life and putting her personal life before her professional one for the first time; things seemed to be carrying on just as they always had.

Like she had always done, and had continued to do so every morning for the past week, Kate woke up and opened her eyes as the smell of coffee wafted into the bedroom.

"Mmm, smells good," she murmured, smiling up at her fiancé. That was the only thing that was different, she thought. Every time she thought the word fiancé, a thrill ran through her. As she sat up, leaning her back against the headboard, Castle handed her a vanilla latte in one of his porcelain cups, complete with a cream-swirl heart. He'd taken to doing that more often now, though if he didn't have time, Kate didn't mind the absent heart. It wasn't as if the heart was the only symbol of his love, the coffee itself was. And after giving her her morning dose of caffeine he always pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Thanks."

"Morning," he said against the crown of her head, smoothing her bedhead into submission with one of his hands.

After taking a sip of latte, which was as always perfect, Kate asked, "So, looking forward to the signing?"

Most days Castle would still be sitting beside her with his own heavily sweetened coffee, but since it was _Deadly Heat'_s release day, the book having been expedited through editors and the publishing house after Castle had gotten behind schedule writing, he was still standing and already pulling a stiff-collared shirt from his closet. For the special day Castle was booked to be at _Barnes and Noble _with one of his fanciest fountain pens and a bunch of devoted, twenty-somethings who would most likely be more interested in the size of his hands than the pages they were actually signing.

Grimacing, he shrugged noncommittally and admitted, "I'd rather be at the precinct. Much more fun."

"Fun? Come on, Castle, unless a body drops it's just going to be a slow, paperwork day. No fun at all."

"And that's exactly why I'd rather be there," he replied. "To make it fun. Just think how much you'd laugh after I challenged Espo and Ryan to a paper-ball toss contest, winning spectacularly of course. And we both know you enjoy watching me struggle with that impossible level on _Angry Birds._"

She laughed. Only Rick Castle would think she didn't find his grunts, curses and exclamations at a simple game annoying. "So you're telling me you won't sneak in a minute or two on _Angry Birds _at the signing anyway?" she pointed out. "And I'm willing to bet you could bribe a member of staff into a paper-ball toss contest – they'll mostly just be bored college students."

"You're probably right."

Abandoning her coffee on the nightstand, Beckett left the bed, not having to bother pushing back the duvet since she always managed to kick it off in her sleep anyway, and smoothed the shirt over his shoulders before turning him to face her. "You know I am," she told him as she finished doing up his buttons. "Besides, no body drop means I might be able to pop in on my lunch break." He smiled. "I am going to need to pick up a copy to keep my collection complete, and it would just be plain wrong if I didn't get the author to sign it."

He grinned in response, his arms winding around her waist to squeeze her tight before letting her go.

"I guess I'd better get a move on then. I don't want an earful from Paula if I'm late." He pulled two ties off his tie rack and held them up for Beckett's inspection.

"This one," she said in answer to his unspoken question, taking the purple striped tie from his right hand and placing it around his neck, before turning up his collar and proceeding to tie it for him. She couldn't help thinking it was such a domestic thing to do; something a wife would do, and bit her lip to hide her smile.

"What?" he asked, noticing anyway.

She just shook her head. It was too embarrassing to say aloud.

Whilst Castle found some pants, obviously a necessity, Kate pulled out her own button-down shirt and work slacks before getting down on her hands and knees to find a pair of heels.

Castle left as soon as he was dressed, promising, "Until later, Detective," with a firm kiss. No further distractions, Kate rushed to finish her latte, brush her teeth and head out; stopping only to secure her father's watch around her wrist and make sure her mother's ring was tucked under her blouse. As she caught sight of the thin silver band swinging on the chain around her neck, she glanced down at her own and bit her lip. Would he mind?

* * *

Rick tried to refrain from smirking as Paula escorted him into the bookstore, still complaining about the fact that he'd been a minute late getting down to the car. There was still an hour till the bookstore opened but already fans were beginning to queue up outside. Inside, the store was just as busy, workers hurrying to set up display stands, dragging heavy cardboard boxes stacked to the brim with hardback copies of _Deadly Heat_ to be put out in the display cases. The balding manager looked up from his clipboard to give Rick a nod, before going back to shouting at his staff for not arranging the books in perfect alignment. In fact, the only person in the store seemingly unfazed by Rick's presence and the manager's directives was a plastic-looking blonde teenager stood behind the till, her face half-hidden behind the magazine she was reading.

Castle did a double take as Paula ushered him past, impossibly still griping at him.

* * *

When Kate arrived at the precinct and made her way up to homicide, she noticed the looks and the whispers following her but just put it down to office gossip and speculation about the new Nikki Heat novel.

After dumping her bag in her locker, only taking out her phone and putting it in her pocket, then headed for her desk where a mountain of paperwork awaited her. She'd barely sat down when something came flying through the air, landing on her desk.

"Yo, you seen that?"

She didn't look up at Esposito, or Ryan, but instead down at the magazine one of them had just thrown onto her desk. Her jaw dropped in shock as she took in the cover photo, seeing again Castle's hard, emotionless eyes as he knelt in front of her holding out her engagement ring. Beckett bent over the desk in disbelief, whipping the magazine open, ripping pages in the process as she leafed through trying to find the article accompanying their picture.

* * *

'_Writer and Muse tying the Kn__ot!'_ read the headline.

Brushing off Paula's harrying hands, Castle reached out for the magazine. "Sorry, could I borrow this a second?"

"Whatever," replied the teenaged girl, dropping the magazine and pulling a mirror and tube of lip gloss out from behind the till instead.

Castle flipped through to the piece on him and Kate before angrily turning to Paula. "Did you know about this?!" he demanded.

"No," she replied after skim-reading the article. "But how am I supposed to keep on top of these things if you don't keep me informed, Rick? I'll get on it straight away, release a statement, you know the drill."

Castle nodded his thanks, before reluctantly pulling out his phone and pressing speed dial for Kate. As the line rang, he prayed that she wouldn't pick up, that she would be driving to a body or that she wouldn't hear her phone ringing in her bag. He sucked in a breath when she answered.

* * *

Finishing the article, Kate looked up at Espo and Ryan to find them and the whole of homicide staring at her left hand.

"So…where's the ring?" Ryan asked, lending voice to confusion everyone was feeling.

"Please tell me you did not shoot Writer-Boy down," Esposito added.

Rolling her eyes, Kate snaked her hand under the open collar of her shirt and pulled out the chain that now bore both her mother's wedding ring and her engagement ring. At their look, she told them, "Just wanted to keep it safe."

"Then why didn't you tell us?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, it's been a week, Beckett," Espo added.

"Guys, we haven't even told our parents." Esposito was still giving her a displeased face. She sighed and continued, "Come on, it's not like we weren't going to tell you, it's just Alexis is off in Costa Rica. An engagement announcement isn't the kind of thing you say to your daughter down the phone. We were just waiting till she got back-" Beckett broke off as her cell phone rang. Pulling the thing out of her pocket, she found Castle's smirking face looking up at her. Before answering, she held her hand up to Espo and Ryan, asking them to wait. "Hey, you bored already?" she greeted.

"Uh, Beckett, I don't wish to alarm you, but…uh…" How on earth was he going to drop the bombshell on her? "Have you seen a newsstand today?" he asked, foregoing his own greeting and just diving in.

"Yes," Kate sighed.

"Before you say anything, I've already got Paula running interference. She can get whatever you want printed. A statement, a retraction, you name it."

"Okay."

"You don't sound angry. Are you mad?" Castle questioned, his nerves carrying across the phone link.

Kate wasn't sure how she felt. A part of her was angry for the privacy invasion, for the fact that everyone had found out before they could announce the news, but a second part of her felt like a load had been lifted. "Well, maybe this wasn't how we planned for everyone to find out, but there was bound to be an article sometime, right?"

"You seem to be taking this very well. Are you sure you're not angry with me?"

"Why would I be angry with _you, _Castle?" Kate laughed. "You didn't give the press the picture, it's not your fault." She heard him breathe a sigh of relief down the phone and shook her head in amusement.

"Right, so what should I tell Paula?"

"Well, there's no point denying it, is there? The picture's pretty self-explanatory. Why don't we just go with we are engaged but hope that the public will appreciate our request for privacy?" Kate suggested. Checking her father's old watch, she exhaled regretfully. "You should probably go; they'll be opening the store soon, right? And I'm going to have to go and see Lanie about all this before she has my head."

"Right," Castle agreed. "I love you."

"Love you too."

Hanging up, Kate looked up to find Esposito and Ryan had moved off and already begun working on their own paperwork, their conversation apparently already forgotten. After slipping her phone back into her pocket, Kate abandoned her desk and got into the lift, heading down to the morgue.

* * *

**A/N: So who's excited for Deadly Heat? I'm only just started reading Frozen Heat at the moment, but I can't wait till it comes out. The cover looks so like Beckett's silhouette it's unreal. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. More fluff and excitement is on the way. Let me know what you think. **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Firstly, I am so, so sorry for not updating for ages. My only excuse is that I put a bit more focus on a Harry Potter story that only had a few chapters left and I started doing my first archaeological excavation which required me getting up at 7am and working from 9am to half 5 and not getting home till 6 for two weeks, leaving me seriously tired with stiff hands. Anyway, enough excuses and more chapter!**

* * *

The morgue was always cold but when Kate entered it that morning, she couldn't help thinking the air was perhaps a bit chillier than usual. It wasn't a place she particularly liked, filled with stainless steel and the unmistakable stench of death. It was such a miserable place, that you could almost feel the decay clinging to your skin, following you out of the room. Usually, Kate could brush aside the icy atmosphere, and instead focus on Lanie, her bright and bubbly best friend; today though the atmosphere was as unfriendly as she expected Lanie to be and she just couldn't stop thinking about just how stony her friend would be with her.

"Well-"

"-Lanie," Kate interrupted, trying to head her off before she could build up into an inferno of a rant, "before you say anything, it's not that we didn't want to tell you. We hadn't told anyone, you know since Alexis isn't here. I know you're probably mad that I didn't tell you-"

"-You think I'm mad?" Lanie asked, looking at Kate incredulously.

"You're not?"

Lanie tutted at the wariness in Kate's tone. "No, I'm not. I thought you might be though," she admitted. "Ever since I saw that magazine cover this morning, I've been preparing myself for you to come storming down here. I even managed to sneak in a bottle of wine since I thought you might need it."

"Why does everyone think I'm going to be mad about this?"

One of Lanie's eyebrows quirked upwards, humour twisting her lips into a smirk. "Girl, seriously?"

"What?"

"This is you we're talking about, you know, the patron saint of privacy."

"I'm not that secretive, I'm just independent…" Kate muttered introspectively.

Rather than trying to convince intractable Kate any different, Lanie continued, "I just thought that since you hadn't told us, you wouldn't appreciate the world knowing."

"I don't appreciate it," Kate remarked. "But what can I do? It's not the first time I've been in the papers and I doubt it'll be the last. Castle's drafting a statement."

"I'm sure it'll all calm down soon. Next week, they'll have forgotten all about you and Castle and it'll be some other unlucky, apparently news-worthy person on all the covers." A beat of silence passed comfortably between the two best friends before Lanie apparently snapped out of her thoughts and grabbed Kate's hand with a large smile across her face. "Guess you'd better show me this ring. Knowing Castle, it's sure to be one heck of a rock." After glancing at Kate's ringless finger, Lanie actually turned the detective's hand upside down in search of the missing engagement ring.

At her look of confusion, Kate explained, "I don't want anything bad to happen to it," and pulled the chain out from under her shirt once more.

Lanie gasped at the ring Beckett showed her. It wasn't exactly the kind of thing she had pictured Castle trying to slip onto Kate's finger – it was much too simple and understated for that – but she couldn't help thinking that it was exactly the kind of thing Kate would let him give her. The band itself wasn't quite silver; it had a more burnished finish, which combined with the gold setting for the row of small diamonds (and Lanie was sure they were real) seemed to fit perfectly with Kate's personality.

"Kate, it's gorgeous."

"I know," she murmured, smiling fondly as she remembered Rick sliding it onto her finger for the first time.

Handing the chain back to Kate, Lanie asked, "So, when's the big day?"

Kate shrugged. She was still getting used to the fact that she was engaged. She and Castle handed even discussed when they might like to actually hold the wedding ceremony. There were so many things they hadn't thought about. One thing she was certain about was her bridal party. "Since I'm here and you know, I guess I should ask. Be my Maid of Honour?"

* * *

Rick turned back around to face Paula, only to have her shove him in the chest and send him stumbling backwards.

"Talk and walk, Rick. The fans are waiting."

"Right," he replied, taking a couple more steps backwards. "So, Kate's okayed a statement."

"Marvellous," Paula said, sounding impatient as ever. "I'll release the usual then?"

Rick nodded. "We would like everyone to respect our privacy at this time. You know the drill," he told his agent. "And if you could tell your sources that Kate is as off limits as Alexis is, that would be great-"

"-Does the detective know that you're asking me this?"

Rick shook his head. He hadn't told Kate that he was going to request the media leave her alone, but he didn't think she'd mind. He was sure that if another paparazzo took a picture of her as she left his loft for work running on just three hours of sleep, she'd probably end up arresting him.

"Not a great start for a marriage, Rick," Paula warned.

"I know what I'm doing," he said, too confident for her words to have much effect on him. Pleased to have arranged their statement so quickly, taking Paula's quick typing on her tablet as evidence that she was already notifying the appropriate people, Rick spun back around and took his seat at the table prepared for the signing. All around him were copies of Deadly Heat, and he could even see a few cardboard cut-outs of himself through the large group of fans clapping appreciatively at his appearance.

To the side of the table, a burly security guard nodded at the first person in line, a man in his mid-twenties who handed Rick a hard-back copy of _Deadly Heat_ the instant he was within reach.

"Hi," Rick greeted, stretching his lips into the usual charming smile he employed for fans and pictures. He flipped the cover open, ignoring the picture of himself on the book jacket. It was a new one taken this year (since Paula and the people at Black Pawn had been complaining that his previous author's photo was too outdated and he still looked like a twenty five year old in it) but he'd had so many done that they all seemed to look the same. Beckett assured him that he looked sexy in it, and as long as she thought so that was all that mattered. "What's the name?"

"Paul," the man replied, holding out a hand for Rick to shake. "I'm such a big fan. I read all of the Derrick Storm novels. _Unholy Storm_ is my favourite. It was a really great book."

Rick grinned, always taking pleasure from people singing his praises. It didn't happen too often. "Thank you," he said, picking up his fountain pen and quickly writing across the first page, 'Paul, hope you enjoy this one as much as _Unholy Storm_' and signing his name at the bottom.

"Congratulations on your engagement by the way," Paul said as he received his newly signed book.

"Thanks."

* * *

"You don't want Madison, or someone from college?"

Kate shook her head. "You're my best friend, Lanie. There's no-one else I'd rather have."

"You mean no-one else more suited to the job," Lanie corrected, resulting in a customary 'Beckett-eye-roll'. "Kate, all I can promise is that you're going to have the best bachelorette party New York has ever seen."

"Thanks, I'm sure you'll be great." The words were barely out of her mouth when Lanie's phone began ringing. As the on-call Medical Examiner, it looked like her presence was being demanded at a crime scene. "See you there," Kate mouthed to Lanie, who nodded and continued listening to her own phone call.

Just as she expected, her pocket began trilling. Sending Lanie a look, Kate pulled the phone out and answered, "Beckett."

The voice on the other end of the line gave her brief details about her next case as Lanie waved goodbye and left for the crime scene.

"Uh huh. Got it," she replied, fishing her notebook out of her other trouser pocket to note down the address dictated to her. The morgue doors swung closed behind Kate masking the sound of her phone alerting her to a text message. She still felt the vibrations in her hand though and quickly read through the text as she walked.

* * *

Fifteen people later, Castle was still being congratulated on his and Kate's engagement, despite it technically only being a rumour in a magazine. Still, the picture of him on one knee holding out a ring spoke a thousand words, he thought. At least it kept the signing fresh, he supposed. Normally he was stuck dodging questions about what he was writing next or what happened in the book or why he ended one of his book series, or even worse: requests for his cell phone number.

"I'm afraid I'm too busy to read and help edit manuscripts," Rick told the guy standing in front of him. "My advice is to edit and rewrite your manuscript until you feel happy with it and then start sending submissions to literary agents. If one of them likes it, or feels there's a market for it, then they'll get you an editor and set up the publishing process for you – it's a lot easier. Crime's the in genre – just give it a shot."

After handing back his book and wishing him good luck, Rick turned his attention to the young man standing behind him. It was obvious just from looking at him that 'man' wasn't exactly the right descriptor. He was an odd-looking guy, Rick thought. He didn't have many fans under the age of twenty, and those that he did tended to be girls who were after his money and fame. Aside from his age, Rick found it strange that he didn't seem to be happy or pleased to see him; rather looking and sounding moody the entire five minutes he was allotted to get his book signed.

"So, er, where's the cop?" the teenager finally asked, craning his neck to search behind Rick's table.

"You mean Kate?"

"The hot cop you based the book on." Rick forced himself not to react in spite of his correct suspicion that the teenager wasn't a fan of him but rather Kate.

"Since she's a cop, she's at work," Rick answered, trying to keep a level head despite the boys attitude beginning to grate on him. "Thanks for coming," he said, signalling to the security guard to move the guy along and allow the woman waiting in line behind him up to the table.

"Hi, sorry for the wait."

"Not to worry," the woman replied. "I'm sure you'll be here long after I've gone home." With those few simple words, Rick found his smile coming back.

"Yeah, these events do tend to take all day," he agreed, taking her book.

"I bet it makes you miss that lovely fiancée of yours."

Rick smiled and nodded. "Sorry, I haven't asked your name yet."

"Jane."

"Hi Jane, thanks for coming today." Signing the book, he found himself deviating from the usual words he wrote.

_To Jane, the kindest, most patient fan I've come across,_

_Thank you for the brightening the day_

_Look out for a mention in Packing Heat (and don't breathe a word to my agent or publisher about this title or I'll be castrated!) _

The urge to add a smiley at the end of that sentence was almost overwhelming, but Castle resisted and instead continued writing one last sentence before finishing with his signature.

_Hope to see you at the next release signing_.

He passed the book along with a genuine smile and a wave goodbye.

As a perky blonde woman, dressed in what had to be the world's smallest pair of shorts and a leopard print strapless top, approached the table and gave him what was presumably supposed to be a sexy pout and wink, Rick found himself missing his fiancée more than ever. Pulling out his phone, he held his hand up to the security guard, silently asking him to halt the woman, and sent a quick text to Kate.

* * *

Kate smiled as she replied to Castle, being succinct as she tried to concentrate on the letters on her iPhone as well as where she was going, narrowly avoiding walking into a rookie cop and a few doorframes.

_Caught a case. Will try to pop by on my way back from the scene._

A few minutes later, her phone pinged with his reply.

_DETAILS!_

Kate smirked, knowing that holding out what little information she had would only make it more entertaining when she finally told him.

Exiting the precinct, she was quick to hop into her Dodge Charger and speed through the traffic to the hotel address she'd jotted down in her notebook. Held up by Castle's texts and a few light traffic jams, Kate arrived just seconds after Esposito and Ryan.

"Vic's up on the twelfth floor," Espo said, coming to her car door as she removed her keys from the ignition and stepped out. "Reception called in shots fired from room 1204 at 0956 hours this morning."

Kate nodded, taking in the information easily as they pushed through the doors into the lobby and walked straight past the reception desk with just a flash of her badge. Lanie glanced up at her as she entered the hotel room, nodding with the briefest smile, before turning her attention back to the body in front of her and calling out the cause of death.

"Multiple GSWs to the chest," Lanie said, "With this kind of wounds I'd say we're definitely looking at some form of handgun, but I'll know more when I get him back to the morgue and extract the bullets. Liver temperature puts time of death between eight and ten; it's possible he was already dead when he was shot." Lanie turned the dead man's face so that Kate and her two back up detectives could see the dark contusion on the back of his head.

Kate surveyed the crime scene, taking stock of the large pool of blood surrounding their victim, the bloody footprints sunken into the shag carpet, the window with a small round hole through it.

"If a handgun caused these injuries, then why is there bullet hole in the window?" she asked, leaving the Medical Examiner and her team of detectives behind to take a closer look. From experience, she knew it was the right kind of size for a sniper's shot.

"Judging from the open safe in the bedroom, the empty spaces on the walls for paintings, I'd say it looks like this was a robbery gone wrong. That hole in the window could be where the gained entry-"

"-A professional job then?"

Esposito nodded an affirmative to Kate's interruption. "Looks that way."

"Targeted?"

"Vic's name was Greg Bayfield," Ryan said, tossing the wallet they'd pulled from the unlocked safe over to Kate.

"The business tycoon?" She only had to glance down at the photo ID inside the leather wallet to answer her own question.

"Ryan, Espos, get a warrant for his financials." The two men nodded, already understanding the wavelength Beckett was running on.

As Espo pulled out his phone and called Judge Markway, Ryan assured Kate that he and Esposito would be thorough checking for fraud, and any association with loan sharks.

"Thanks Ryan," Kate said. Next she directed uniforms to start canvassing people staying on that hotel floor and members of staff involved with the shots fired alert for information, whilst Lanie took the body back to the morgue. After one last survey of the crime scene, she left CSU to finish collecting their samples and taking the photographs for her murder board.

Her phone vibrated with another text.

_Don't leave me hanging, woman! _

Kate smirked, imagining how it must be killing Castle to not know a single thing about her newest case.

The elevator ride down to the lobby was short, but she'd already decided to swing by the _Barnes and Noble _store on her way back to the precinct. If anyone asked, she wouldn't admit it; but she found herself missing him.

* * *

Rick checked his phone for a text back from Kate for the hundredth time, sighing as he found there was still no response. There was a slight possibility that she hadn't got some of his texts, of course, but he couldn't help feeling she was probably doing it on purpose to make sure he concentrated on his fans and the signing rather than thinking up some amazing theory for who murdered her victim. Of course, now he was just imagining what the case was instead.

He was desperate to work some kind of conspiracy or cover up murder with her. And he had come up with a pretty darn good case in his head, if he said so himself. Perhaps Nikki and Rook could investigate a conspiracy, he mused.

He was so deep in thought, the action of taking a copy of _Deadly Heat _from the next person in line instinctive, that he didn't even look up at the fan who had just passed him the book. He didn't notice the whispers. In fact, the only thing that made him look up was the tingle down his spine as he felt her eyes raking over him.

"Kate!" he gasped, jerking upright.

* * *

**A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Sorry again for it taking me so long to get it up. I'm going to try to get another in some time this week, but after that there won't be another chapter till after the 20****th**** August since I'll be on holiday without my laptop. If you don't want to miss an update, I'd recommend putting the story on alert. Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I said I would try and get another chapter up, so here it is. It's a bit on the short side, but it's all I could write after I finished packing. So little time, so much to do. *Sigh* Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

Kate smiled at Rick, aware of the hushed atmosphere behind her. After a minute of him just staring at her, she prompted, "Well, Castle are you going to sit there staring all day or are you going to sign my book?"

"Right," he replied, seeming to jolt out of some kind of reverie. His fingers fumbled with his pen as he turned his attention back down to the pages in front of him. Whilst he wrote, he smirked to himself at his own brilliance and made sure to keep the words shielded from Kate so she wouldn't see. "What's the case then?"

"Business tycoon shot in his hotel room," Kate answered, keeping her voice low enough that the crowd of people behind her wouldn't overhear. "Looks like a possible robbery."

"So not as exciting as the things I was imagining in my head-"

"-I'll bet," Kate murmured.

"Any hot leads?"

"Castle, the body's only just dropped," she reminded him. She'd yet to even notify the next of kin.

"And?" At the look Kate shot him, he continued, "You've got to have some ideas."

"Maybe I do," she conceded. "But right now you've got a book signing to concentrate on and I've got a case to solve." She took the book from him, kissed his cheek and began walking away from the table. "See you later, Castle!"

"Come on!" he called after her. "You know I'll never be able to focus on anything but the case now!"

A couple of people in the audience tittered, some at Castle's shout; others at Kate's disregard of it. Whilst they looked on, Castle shot them a sheepish grin and did his best to keep his encounters with the fans exciting for them. He had to hand it to Kate, since he had the minimal amount of information about her case, he didn't really have a lot to speculate on, and soon grew bored of not being able to find out more, since Paula was keeping a watchful eye on him and had confiscated his phone after he sent Beckett a pleading text that of course went unanswered.

* * *

She hadn't been able to resist leaving him without answers, just as she hadn't been able to resist dropping by and getting a book signed even though she could have had him do it in private – it wasn't like he hadn't offered. Still, it had become something of a tradition for them, since that day after her shooting. Reminiscing about the look on his face as he realised she wasn't going to indulge his desire to run theories with her, she almost walked straight into Detective Karpowski as she came out of the elevator.

"Sorry, Roselyn!"

"Detective Beckett," Karpowski nodded, seeming perhaps just as distracted as Kate was.

Letting her get on the elevator, Kate pushed aside the thoughts of Rick and refocused her mind on the case, nodding politely at a uniform as she made her way to her desk. She dropped her bag before nudging it underneath her desk with her toes.

"Where are we with Bayfield's financials?" she asked Esposito and Ryan, joining them at the murder board.

"Have them right here," Ryan replied, holding up a few sheets of paper. "Everything seems normal. Or as normal as financials can be for a business tycoon."

Beckett took the documents from him and leafed through herself, just to check.

"We called the next of kin – his wife just arrived," Espo said, nodding towards the interview room where the blinds were open and a teary-eyed woman could be seen perching unsteadily on the edge of one of the chairs, a crumpled tissue clamped in one hand.

Beckett nodded, handed the financial records back to Ryan and surveyed the murder board for what they knew, thinking back to the crime scene.

"Ryan, have someone from robbery take a look at all this." Something about the case just didn't add up. She couldn't help feeling that it was odd that Bayfield's financials were so squeaky-clean. "Espo, head down to see Lanie, see what's come up from the autopsy. I'm going to go talk to Mrs Bayfield."

Beckett let herself into the interview room as quietly as possible and sat opposite the victim's wife. "I'm so sorry for your loss, Mrs Bayfield. I just have a few routine questions to ask you." At her nod, Kate asked, "Did your husband have any enemies or receive any threats?"

Mrs Bayfield nodded. "Greg was a powerful man; he had a lot of business opponents."

"Would any of them have wanted to kill him?"

"Greg was in the middle of closing a lucrative deal with Apple. His former partner, Robert Houndslow was in talks with the company too though."

"Thank you, Mrs Bayfield."

* * *

When his hand was feeling cramped from writing (he really had to stop using his laptop for so much), Rick finally set his pen down and couldn't have been more grateful to see the shop empty of customers and the staff getting ready to close.

"Paula?" he asked. He didn't even have to say anything more before she handed his iPhone back and told him to head on home.

As he hailed a cab on the street, he dialled Kate. He was still waiting for her to pick up as he ducked inside the yellow car and gave the driver the address to his loft.

"Beckett," she answered, having obviously not checked the caller ID first.

"Hey, it's me," he replied. "Paula just released me."

She chuckled quietly. "I'm still at the precinct, but I'll be home in half an hour." Rick looked at his watch then, and seeing that it was already approaching half six decided that he would order takeout for them. Cooking was going to be too much effort. Before he could even make the suggestion, Kate asked, "Want me to pick some Thai on the way home?"

"Sure," he replied. "So, still not cracked the case?"

He heard Beckett sigh loudly at the other end. Even the sound of her spinning on her chair to look at the murder board was audible.

"No. This one's tough. Could sure use one of those wild theories of yours right about now."

"I'll have one ready for you at home, don't worry."

"You don't have one now?" He could almost see one of her eyebrows riding up in doubt. Richard Castle always had a ridiculous story to solve her mystery for her.

He yawned, "Give me a minute."

"Castle, don't you go falling asleep on me."

"I'm not. I'm awake." He was too tired to realise that he still sounded sleepy. As the cab driver pulled up outside his building, he handed the man a bundle of dollars and headed inside, still talking to Kate on the phone. "So Bayfield's former partner was a dead-end?"

"Yep, alibied out."

"Hmm, well he could have just hired someone."

There was a pause before Kate said, "Really? You're not going to suggest werewolves or spirits or aliens got him?"

"Kate, he was shot, not beamed up." Castle grinned as he pictured his fiancée rolling her eyes at him. "Anyway, I'm still working on my theory. You'd better prepare for your mind to be blown when you get home."

"Okay, I'll see you at home then," she replied. "I love you."

"Love you."

Castle twisted his key in the lock and flung it down on the side as he shut his front door behind him. His only stop before the couch was in the kitchen to grab a bottle of wine, pop the cork and pour a generous amount into one of his crystal glasses.

When Kate walked in that evening, she found the glass sitting untouched on the coffee table and Castle sprawled out asleep on his front on the sofa. Smiling at his open mouth and the hand tucked up under his face, one of his legs sticking over the edge of the sofa and the other pulled up impossibly high, she set down the bag of Thai food.

"Rick," she coaxed, crouching in front of his head and pulling her fingers through his hair. "Your neck will be aching if you sleep like that."

He mumbled something at the sound of her voice, still sleeping with his head twisted to the side.

"Come on, up you get." Kate tried a different tactic, tickling the sensitive skin on the underside of his outstretched arm.

Castle woke with a start, almost kicking his full glass of wine.

"Kate!" he exclaimed.

"Thought you had some theory that was going to blow my mind?"

"After dinner," he yawned, stretching before sitting up and giving Kate some room to sit down.

Kate ducked her head and hid her grin, knowing Castle still hadn't found the answer to her case. Plonking herself in the space beside him, she unzipped her boots and threw them down on the floor. Castle had already helped himself to a box of Pad Kee Mao, and was picking at it with his chopsticks.

"So, how was the signing?"

"Okay, couple of people were asking after you-"

"-Oh, really?" Kate smirked, wondering how it would be possible for people not to talk about her after she had dropped by.

"Yeah," Castle replied, still chewing food and not noticing the humoured lilt in Kate's voice. "This one jack-ass was only there to see you." Twisting to look at Kate, watching the elegant and practised way she lifted her Pad Khing on chopsticks and turned her soft gaze on him, he could only say, "He definitely had the right idea…"

Kate rolled her eyes but pulled her feet up onto the couch and leaned into Castle's side regardless. Her man-child could be ridiculous, but he was _her _man-child.

They lapsed into silence again, enjoying each other's company after the day apart. Before coming back to the Loft, Kate had slid her ring back onto her finger where it belonged, and she now found herself looking at it.

"We should probably start planning an engagement party," she said suddenly.

Castle coughed, choking on the piece of chicken he had been chewing. "What? You want to plan an engagement party? Shouldn't that be my line?"

"Well, it's just everyone knows now so we only need to wait till Alexis gets back and that's only a week and a half away, so we should probably plan it now and send out invitations."

"Right," he agreed. "I was already thinking about a surprise welcome home party for Alexis. Everyone would already be there, so we could just announce it then?"

"As long as you don't think Alexis would mind us stealing her thunder, sure."

"I'm sure she won't." Rick smiled at Kate; let her get back to eating and winding down after her day at work. "How about a fancy dress party?"

"How would you get Alexis to dress up without ruining the surprise?"

Castle thought for a moment. "With difficulty," he admitted. "So no fancy dress… How about-"

"Don't say an ABC party, Castle," Kate warned, knowing his mind was going to the gutter after the words 'no fancy dress'.

He stared at her. "We could have an anything but clothes party later."

Her lips curled. "Really? You want me to wear a trash bag?"

"No clothes, Beckett, no clothes."

"Castle, focus!"

"Oh! I've got it! A cops and robbers party! Everyone gets handcuffed together!"

"This is a party for Alexis, Castle; not you," she reminded him.

"But it's for us too!"

"Why don't we just have a normal party at the house in the Hamptons?"

"Yeah, I guess that could work," Castle replied, sounding disappointed.

"Don't worry, Castle, I have a whole other kind of party for tonight that I _know _you'll like."

Before Kate knew what was going on, her Thai food was back on the coffee table, she was lying on the couch and Castle was hovering over her.

"Oh yeah?"

* * *

**A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed it! Let me know what you think! And remember, I'm going on holiday tomorrow so there'll be no updates till I get back. Thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: So I'm back from holiday and back to writing. Thanks to those of you who have been reviewing! I really appreciate hearing what people think, good and bad. **

* * *

Kate checked the clock on the corner of her monitor for the last time then closed down the open windows and tidied away the folders cluttering her desk. The actions didn't go unnoticed by her fellow detectives, Esposito and Ryan.

"Hey, where you off to?" Esposito called, throwing down his pen for the moment to fold his arms behind his head. "I thought we were all heading to the Hamptons together."

"Sorry, did I not tell you? Castle's been at that meeting with Black Pawn all morning and needed to spend this afternoon getting the house ready for the party, so I said I'd pick up Alexis from the airport. Her flight gets in soon."

Ryan nodded at her explanation and turned to Javi before directing a few more seconds attention to writing up his case notes, the three of them having solved the Bayfield murder the previous week (Castle providing them the break they needed by suggesting that they check the recent media articles on the business tycoon) and been assigned a total of four other cases which all required paperwork to be filed for the judge and the courts. "Jenny and I can give you a lift up," he offered.

"Yo, Beckett, how's Lanie getting there?"

"She wasn't on call today, so she's probably already left," Kate shrugged. "I asked her if she wouldn't mind supervising Castle, keep him from going overboard – you know how he gets."

Esposito accepted Ryan's offer of a ride to the party and watched her finish gathering her things into her arms, a couple of cardboard folders of paperwork, a pen or two and an empty coffee mug she would deposit in the breakroom on her way past.

"See you guys at the party," she said, nudging her chair back under the desk with her foot.

"See you," the called back to her in unison.

Dodging past a uniform leading a suspect into one of the interview rooms, Beckett left her work in homicide behind for the day, idly tapping her foot as she waited for the elevator to arrive at her floor. With the usual ping, the doors opened and she stepped in without looking up from her cell phone, having taken the thing out when it vibrated in her pocket after receiving Castle's text to remind her of Alexis' flight details.

"Kate," someone said brightly.

She looked up, wondering who it was who was addressing her with her first name. In the precinct it was always Beckett – even Castle called her Beckett at the precinct. "Demming, hi," she replied, shooting him a brief smile.

He nodded. "How are you?"

"Good. You?"

"Fine, thanks. I, er, I read about you and Castle. Congratulations."

"Thank you." Beckett looked away from Demming, glancing instead at the display set into the side of the elevator to see which floor they were currently on. _Still two floors to go, great. _She wasn't sure she could think of a more awkward conversation. Everything between she and Demming felt very stilted. Even though she hadn't said so when they broke up, she was sure he knew it was because of Castle. If it hadn't been obvious then, it was now.

"So, when's the date?"

"Oh, we haven't set one yet. Castle's a little busy right now with the new book out, so it'll be at least a couple of months before we have some time to start planning together." Finally the elevator arrived on the ground floor, and Kate stepped out. "I've got to go, but I'll see you around?"

"Sure," Demming replied, smiling easily at her.

After shooting him a hesitant smile, Kate continued out of the precinct, throwing the coat and folders in her arms into the back of her Charger before nosing out into the street, flipping her car radio from the police channel onto some other station so that the music and inconsequential talking of the hosts could distract her from how long she was going to be sat in traffic jams on her way out to JFK. At first, she went through the streets with little trouble, but twenty minutes later she was stuck in a queue on the Williamsburg Bridge and beginning to worry about being late. She wouldn't normally do it, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

All it took was a flip of a switch and her siren was wailing, cars moving infinitesimally to either side of the road to create a gap for her. She couldn't help feeling the guilt settling in the pit of her stomach as she rushed past the mainly stationary traffic, all the drivers looking on and probably wondering what her emergency was.

When Beckett got to the airport and walked through to the arrivals gate and saw that Alexis' flight was on time and due to land in ten minutes, she pushed aside the guilt, knowing that the siren had been necessary. Though Alexis was an adult now, she still wouldn't want to leave the girl waiting on her own in the airport. Kate made sure to remain in sight of the entrance to the arrivals hall as she took a seat at the nearest coffee bar, quickly ordering a cappuccino and picking up a copy of the New York Times to read whilst she waited for Alexis to clear customs and get her bags.

Ever since the photos of Rick proposing to her, there hadn't yet been any other mention of her or her beloved writer, except a small piece the following day confirming that they were indeed engaged and requesting privacy for the couple. Kate had to hand it to Paula; she really was great at her job. In addition to the lack of articles about them, she hadn't had a photographer follow her for days.

Despite reading at the same time, Kate was on the alert for announcements that Alexis' flight from Costa Rica had landed. It wasn't long before the board was reading 'arrived' and Kate was setting aside the paper to search for the redhead in the trail of people appearing through the arrivals gate. With her flaming hair, Kate spotted Alexis easily and stood to go and meet her.

"Hey Kate," Alexis greeted, letting her suitcase roll to a stop as she paused in front of the woman who was soon to be her new stepmother. Whilst she had been gone, she and her father had exchanged a few emails so she had known to expect Kate to meet her at the airport, but she still couldn't wait to see her dad again.

"Hey Alexis, good flight?"

The redhead grimaced. "The five hours waiting at Miami wasn't exactly fun, but I'm glad to be back."

Kate pulled a face too. Long flights were bad enough without having to sit in an airport for hours waiting for the connecting flight. She could imagine just how Alexis was feeling. "Well, shall we?" she asked, nodding towards the exit.

Alexis nodded and began dragging her case forwards again, only to be stopped by Kate so she could take the bag from her. Just as they were passing the coffee shop, Alexis paused. "Do you mind if I grab a mocha quickly?"

Kate smiled and took out her purse, handing Alexis a couple of bills, knowing she probably only had Costa Rican currency with her.

"Do you want anything?" Alexis asked, feeling awkward accepting money from Kate. She tried to keep it from showing on her face, but Kate guessed at why she was asking.

"No thanks, I had a cappuccino whilst I was waiting. But I wouldn't mind a muffin or something. Get yourself whatever you want." Whilst Alexis was gone, Kate took the opportunity to send Castle a quick text to so he knew what kind of time to expect them to be back and could make sure he was finished decorating and setting out the food.

Walking to the car, Kate continued asking questions. "Did you manage to sleep on the plane?"

"Yeah," Alexis replied, "thankfully, it was a pretty smooth flight. I don't know what I would have done if there'd been more turbulence; just read I guess."

Kate felt relieved at hearing Alexis had managed some sleep, since she'd been worried that the party and their news wouldn't be as well received if Alexis was tired.

"Your dad read some of your emails to me, but I assume you had a good time."

"It was the best!" Alexis enthused. "The beaches were so much nicer, even than at the Hamptons."

"You do look tanned," Kate commented.

"And we went to the Arenal Volcano and got to go in the hot springs. I've got such great pictures, especially of the rainforest and the La Fortuna Waterfall. We got to go to this wildlife sanctuary too."

Kate smiled, remembering her own days travelling in Europe when she wasn't much older than Alexis. Being immersed in another culture really could be thrilling. Alexis was still talking avidly about the trip when they got to the car and Kate loaded the wheeled holdall into the boot.

In the car, Kate interrupted to say, "Your father and I thought we would go to the Hamptons for the weekend, welcome you back properly. I've got the next few days off work."

Alexis nodded. "That sounds great. How's everything been here in the city?"

"Fine," Kate answered, not really elaborating much as she focused on navigating her way out of the airport without getting lost. "Your dad's book's doing well."

"Have you read it yet?"

Kate shook her head. Since deciding to hold a welcome home/engagement party, she and the boys had been working every day to ensure they'd be able to have the whole weekend off to stay in the Hamptons. "I'm hoping to make a start on it this weekend; I can usually get a lot more read when you're here to distract your father."

Whilst she drove, Kate heard Alexis' phone go off, diverting her attention away from their conversation. Kate wondered briefly if it was Castle, but dismissed that thought when she saw Alexis blushing out of the corner of her eye.

Curious, she asked, "Did anything else happen whilst you were gone?"

Alexis bit her lip as she looked up. "I might have met someone…"

"A guy?"

Alexis nodded.

"What's his name?"

"Pi, he wanted to come back with me," Alexis confessed. "We just really hit it off, you know? The moment we met, we just…" She trailed off, not having the words to properly describe it.

Kate nodded. She knew what that was like, feeling such an instant connection to someone that denying it eventually just became pointless.

"So what happened?"

"We talked and agreed we should wait and see how we feel when I get back to New York, to see if it's more than just a holiday thing. I just don't want to rush into anything again. When I was with Ashley, it all went so fast and didn't really work out how I thought it would. He wasn't who I thought he was."

"I guess that's sensible," Kate replied. Sometimes she wondered how Alexis managed to have such a level-head, growing up with Castle for a father. "Feel like it's just a holiday thing?"

"No, I miss him already."

"Then I'm sure it'll all work out fine."

Alexis nodded, glad that she had Kate to talk to about these things. Her dad was great, but she knew he probably wouldn't be keen on her diving into a relationship with a guy she'd only known for a few weeks, not after everything that had happened that year, not after Paris. He was getting better, but he was still pretty protective and overbearing sometimes. The number of emails he'd written her whilst she was away was verging on overkill.

In a short traffic standstill, Beckett grabbed the double chocolate muffin Alexis had picked up for her and took a bite before setting it back down on the dashboard.

"I bet you didn't miss New York traffic," she grinned, glancing over at Alexis.

"I don't know; there's something pretty homely about it. I even missed the crazy driving of the city's cab drivers. They just weren't the same in Costa Rica."

Whilst they were waiting for traffic to start moving again, the song on the radio station switched and Alexis started singing along. "I love this song."

"It's Taylor Swift, right?" Kate asked, feeling like the voice was familiar and remembering that Alexis had been a big fan a couple of years ago and presumably was still.

"Yeah, with Ed Sheeran. She's supposed to be featuring on his next album too, I can't wait."

Before the song had finished, they were moving again and getting closer to the Hamptons. They still had another forty minutes of driving, but the time seemed to pass quickly with the changing conversation and the radio on. Beckett only hoped Castle was going to be ready. The lights were on at the house when they arrived and any cars that their friends had arrived in hidden somewhere so that Alexis wouldn't suspect anything.

Kate shut off the engine and turned to Alexis. "I'll get your bag out of the boot, why don't you go on in and find your dad; I know he's been itching to see you. You should have seen his face when Gina told him he had to go to the meeting today and that they couldn't rearrange it for him."

"Okay, thanks," Alexis said. Her legs were stiff when she climbed out of the car and began walking up the steps to her dad's house. The door was unlocked and she walked in, immediately calling out. "Dad! I'm back!"

Kate followed, unable to stop smiling as she waited for Castle and everybody to leap out and scare the life out of Alexis. She followed the redhead into the house and through the entrance hall, leaving the bag there. As soon as Alexis was in the sitting room doorway, there was a chorus of shouts, everybody yelling, "Welcome home!"

Alexis threw herself into Rick's waiting arms.

"Hi pumpkin," he mumbled into her hair whilst everyone around them cheered. Ryan, Jenny, Lanie and Esposito were stood close along with Martha and a few of Alexis' friends from high school. As soon as Castle set Alexis down, she was hugging her grandmother and saying hello to her friends.

"Thanks, you guys. This is great!"

With the greetings done, she looked around the room, finally noticing Castle's hand-painted banner reading 'Welcome home, baby-girl!'

"I know," Lanie said, standing behind her. "I tried to stop him but-"

"-Castle will be Castle," Kate finished for her. "Sometimes he just can't be reined in."

"No, guys, it's perfect. Thank you so much! I'm just going to go catch up everyone – we haven't seen each other since last summer."

Kate and Lanie nodded and watched her go. "Thanks for helping Castle set all this up," Kate said to Lanie.

"Hey, I've missed her too. I don't have an intern to boss around anymore."

Kate rolled her eyes at her best friend.

"You know what I mean. The morgue's quiet without a Castle down there."

The two friends grabbed a glass of red wine each, surveying the spectacular party Castle had managed to create. The open plan bottom floor really helped show just how good a job Castle had done in putting up banners and placing snack bowls and drinks. From another room, Alexis and her friends could be heard starting the karaoke, whilst Castle circulated the guests and thanked them for coming. When he was close enough, Kate grabbed him.

"I'm impressed, Castle."

"Have you seen the streamers?" he asked, pointing at the lines of colourful paper pinned artfully to the ceiling to hang down the walls.

"It all looks great," she promised him. "When do you want to talk to Alexis?"

"Let's give her some more time with her friends and then take her aside."

Lanie chose that moment to lean in and say, "Have you noticed Jenny's not drinking the wine?"

Kate and Castle both looked across the room at Jenny sat next to Ryan on one of the couches, noting the beer bottle in Ryan's hand and the glass of juice in Jenny's.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Lanie asked Kate.

"It's none of our business," Kate reminded her as she walked over to the couple and sat down in the empty space beside Jenny, obviously intending to interrogate her. Kate shook her head.

"Yo, Castle, you throw an awesome party, man," Esposito announced as he stopped next to the couple at the kitchen bar and grabbed a bottle of beer.

Castle nodded.

"How long have you been hiding this place? I thought the loft was big enough, but this? I swear the pool is as big as my entire apartment."

"Somehow I doubt that," Castle replied. "But what else was I supposed to spend all my publishing advances on?"

"Well how much did you spend on the ring?" Espo asked, nodding at Kate.

Before Castle could answer, Kate clapped a hand over his mouth. "Don't you dare answer that, Castle, I don't want to know."

The second her hand was off and her attention was diverted by the arrival of Captain Gates, Castle mouthed the figure at Javi and watched his jaw drop.

"Sir, I'm really glad you could make it," Beckett said, stepping out into the hallway and taking her boss' jacket. Castle was quick to take it from her and place it with the other coats in the small room under the stairs where he usually stowed the cleaning stuff.

"I'm just sorry I won't be able to stay long," Gates responded.

"Let me get you a drink then."

"Thank you, Mr Castle. I'll take a brandy," the captain said, looking around the house and trying to conceal her awe.

Once Castle returned with her drink, Victoria Gates wandered into the living room and joined her other detectives, not noticing as they gaped slightly at her appearance and relaxed demeanour.

"Should we go talk to Alexis now?" Kate asked, noticing that the tuneful singing of Alexis and her friends had stopped and the more inebriated voice of Lanie had taken over.

Castle smiled reassuringly and took her hand, the two of them searching out his daughter and finding her gossiping out by the pool with her friends.

"Hey Alexis, can we talk to you for a second?" Castle called out before he could overhear too much of his daughter's conversation.

"Sure, Dad." To her friends, Alexis said, "I'll see you guys inside in a minute." Once they were gone, she asked, "What's up?"

"Well, Kate and I have some news to share with you…" he started, unsure as to whether he should blurt it out or try and slowly build up to telling her that they were engaged.

"You're not pregnant are you?" Alexis asked, looking with Kate at wide eyes.

Kate gaped. "No!" She couldn't have been quicker in answering his daughter; seeming panicked and freaked out by the idea.

"Oh, so what is it?"

"Wait, would it be a bad thing if we were having a baby?" Castle asked.

"No," Alexis answered slowly, wondering where this was going.

"Castle, back to the point," Kate said, still struggling to move past the fact that Alexis had thought she was pregnant.

"Right," he nodded. "Well, it's, er, Kate and I are, well we're-"

Alexis rarely saw her Dad falter when he was speaking. If she didn't think the situation was serious, she would have been laughing. "Dad, spit it out."

"We're engaged," he finally said, searching Alexis' face intently for her reaction.

"Seriously?"

Kate and Rick nodded.

"That's great! I'm really happy for you guys!" When she had left for Costa Rica, Alexis had noticed the tension between Kate and her dad and couldn't help worrying, but then when she'd read his emails, everything had seemed fine. Kate had seemed happier than ever on the way back from the airport, but she'd never suspected that her Dad had proposed to Detective Beckett.

"Really?" Kate asked.

Alexis nodded earnestly. "Were you worried over how I was going to react or something?"

"Well, it's just we've not always seen exactly eye to eye," Kate began, referencing Alexis' cool attitude towards her just before she and Rick had gotten together and Alexis was sick of her father waiting. "And with how things were when you left…"

Alexis shook her head. "Honestly, I couldn't be happier."

"Great," Castle said, a relieved sigh escaping his lips. "Come here, pumpkin." He hugged Alexis once more, lifting her up into the air like he used to when she was younger.

Alexis didn't notice at first when he started walking towards the swimming pool. But when she did, she couldn't stop shouting, drawing their guests out of the house.

"No, Dad!" Alexis yelled, wriggling in Castle's arms and squealing as they got closer to the pool. Rick didn't listen, smirking as he threw his teenaged daughter into the swimming pool. Sputtering and dripping wet, Alexis surfaced, reaching for the edge of the pool. "At least help me out," she requested, holding her hand in the air for Castle to pull her out by. As he took her fingers, she tightened her grip and pulled, tugging her father into the pool.

"Kate," Castle whined, coming up for air as everyone gathered around the pool broke out into laughter.

"Don't dish it out if you can't take it, Castle," Beckett replied, grinning at his predicament.

At her words, Javi and Kevin sniggered harder and continued filming the affair on Espo's phone.

"Gates is going to love this," Javi called, getting Castle's attention.

"Don't you dare!"

"What are you gonna do, Castle? Splash us?"

At Castle's lack of comeback the pair dissolved into near-hysterics. Heaving himself out of the pool, Castle advanced on the detectives, watching as the smiles disappeared and they hurried away to find safety in the house. If Kate hadn't come and handed Castle a towel from one of the sun loungers, Castle probably would have followed them, found them and soaked them. Turning around, he helped Alexis out of the pool and gave her his towel before grabbing another for himself.

Soaked, he and Alexis hurried upstairs to change, leaving Kate to supervise the party and greet any guests who were still arriving. Madison turned up, pulling Kate into a hug before heading straight for the drinks in the kitchen and pouring herself a cupful of punch and joining Lanie in dancing.

"How're you holding up, Kiddo?" Martha asked as she passed Kate stood by the doorway.

"Fine, thanks, Martha," Kate replied, noticing the almost empty wine glass in her soon-to-be Mother-in-law's hand.

"Alexis took the news okay then?"

Kate nodded, smiling as she let a group of Castle's writer friends through the front door. Behind them, Gina and Paula were just walking up the driveway, reminding Kate that she and Castle were supposed to be officially announcing their engagement as well. Her Dad was last to arrive, having driven down from his cabin.

"Hi Dad."

"Katie," he said warmly, folding his daughter into a hug where her head almost rested on top of his. He glanced down at her heels, silently tutting at the size of them.

Once Castle had reappeared in a plum-coloured shirt, she grabbed him by the arm.

"I think everyone's here now. Should we announce it?"

"Whatever you want," he replied, pressing a kiss to her lips and sliding his hands to the small of her back.

"Well, I guess it's kind of just a formality at this point…"

"But it is traditional to make an announcement to family and friends. Actually, there's another tradition…" Castle trailed off and released Kate, walking away without another word as he searched out her father.

"Jim, hi." As he greeted the old man, he found himself suddenly feeling nervous, though he knew that regardless of whether Jim gave him his position, Kate would still marry him. She'd already said yes, for starters.

"What can I do for you son?"

For a minute Castle wondered whether Jim had even read the papers whilst he'd been out of the city at the cabin. The place was pretty deserted – that was why Kate's father liked it so much. He had to know though, right? Surely Kate had said something.

"I know I've done this in the wrong order," he said slowly, "that I should have come to you first, but I didn't have a lot of time. I thought Kate was leaving, and I ended up asking her first."

Jim looked concerned as Castle prattled on without reaching the point.

"Anyway, I'd like to ask you for your blessing, since Kate has already said yes. I'd like your blessing to marry your daughter."

"Of course, Rick. I've never seen Katie happier than when she's with you. You've always had my blessing," Jim replied, clapping Rick on the shoulder. "And I'll be glad to welcome you to the family, Son. It's a little small at the moment; we could do with some new members."

Rick smiled, feeling emotional over Jim's response. He had thought that the man would be happy for him and Kate, that he would give his blessing without hesitation, but he hadn't expected Jim to welcome him into his family so easily.

Standing next to Jim, he grabbed an empty glass that someone had carelessly left on one of the sideboards and used a dirty-ish knife to draw everyone's attention.

Everyone turned and looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to start speaking.

"I know most of you if not all of you will have seen the papers, the magazines, but now that Alexis is back, Kate and I would like to-" Castle broke off and searched for his fiancée in the crowd. "Kate? Where are you?" He watched her slip through the crowd and come to his side, her fingers slipping between his and squeezing slightly, an easy smile spreading over her smile as she met his gaze and he continued, "We would like to finally announce that we are engaged to be married."

Everyone cheered – Lanie drunkest and loudest of all – at his words.

After the cheering had died down and people had finished congratulating them, Castle noticed Paula gesturing for him to join her in the alcove of the hallway. Unwilling to release Kate after spending so little time with her all day and evening, Castle dragged her with him.

"Yeah, Paula?"

"I waited until you'd told Alexis, but the media's been hard to control. They're expecting the wedding of the century," she said, doing away with pleasantries and getting straight down to business. "And I'll be damned if we don't give it to them. With that in mind, I've hired a wedding planner for you."

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**A/N: I decided to end the chapter here, since it got a lot longer than I originally thought it would (which happens a lot actually.) I hope you guys enjoyed it! Please leave a review if you've got time because I really do like to know what people like/dislike so that I can improve the story. Thanks for reading! (And thank you also to those people who have put this story in their alerts and favourites!)**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Special thanks go to jellybean96, rickkate3, saved240307 and the Guest-reviewer for reviewing! You guys are the best! **

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"I waited until you'd told Alexis, but the media's been hard to control. They're expecting the wedding of the century," she said, doing away with pleasantries and getting straight down to business. "And I'll be damned if we don't give it to them. With that in mind, I've hired a wedding planner for you."

"A wedding planner?" Kate asked in livid disbelief. "You got us a wedding planner? You didn't ask us what we wanted, what we were planning? You just went ahead and got us a wedding planner?" The more questions she asked, the angrier Kate began to sound and Castle felt himself wince on Paula's behalf. To his publisher's credit, she didn't even flinch. And Rick could see just how unmoved she was by his fiancée's words.

"Paula-" Rick began, interceding on Kate's behalf.

"-You know this is necessary, Rick. You don't honestly expect me to believe the two of you can successfully plan a wedding while you're touring and writing and she's working every day, do you?"

Indignation flashed hot across Kate's face. "Yes, we can. I juggle him and work, don't I?" she said clearly, eyes challenging Paula to defy her.

Paula didn't answer. "It's already done."

Kate was left sputtering as Paula span on her stiletto heels and walked away, leaving behind her empty champagne flute and stopping only to retrieve her handbag from the cupboard Castle was storing people's coats in.

"Can you believe her?!"

He didn't answer, unsure what he could say. Paula was determined; once she made her mind up about something it was hard to persuade her otherwise. Whilst she was only supposed to control his writing and public appearances, it didn't stop her interfering in his personal life. Castle remembered her telling him to get over Kate at the _Heat Wave _launch party only too clearly.

"I'll try talking to her tomorrow," Castle finally murmured, still looking at the doorway through which his tight-ponytailed publisher had left through. He didn't hold out much hope though. And in the back of his mind, he found himself wondering if perhaps Paula had done the right thing in hiring a wedding planner. He and Kate _were _going to be busy for the foreseeable future. As long as the wedding planner listened to what they wanted, maybe it was for the better. "Come on, let's go back to the party. People will be wondering where we've gone."

Kate's hand tightened around his, and he brought her under his arm, tight to his side. Her head rested on his shoulder as they re-joined their friends, trying to look happy and upbeat, but finding themselves dwelling over their wedding-planner-doom. Before they knew it, it was getting late and people were making their excuses, gathering their belongings and leaving.

* * *

After a night of fitful sleep, Kate abandoned the pretence that sleep would return and she could doze for another hour or so with her head pillowed on Castle's chest, and slid out from Castle's arms. Picking up only Castle's book and one of his shirts she could wear over her tank top and sleep shorts, she padded out of the bedroom and down to the garden, settling herself in one of the wooden seats out there to enjoy the morning sunshine and breeze as she immersed herself in the latest adventures of Nikki Heat and Jamieson Rook.

When Rick found her, she was still staring at the first page bearing his signature.

"Kate?" he asked, aware that she seemed to be staring without actually seeing anything.

At the sound of his voice, she was jolted out of her reverie, her eyes turning from the book to gazing instead at Castle, letting him see the film of water covering them. Instantly he fell to his knees beside her, his hands reaching for her, grasping tight on her knees. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Castle." Her voice came out weak and needy but she didn't care; she needed him to understand the effect his words had on her, how much they meant to her but he didn't even seem to have noticed that it was his book open on her lap, one side of the hardback resting on her tucked up feet, the other on one of her thighs. "You didn't tell me you'd written anything."

_To the most remarkable, maddening, challenging, frustrating person I've ever met,_

_I think I need to add a couple more adjectives in there to really describe you. Sexy, that's definitely got to be one of them. But then again, I've always thought you were kind of indescribable, that there's a word perfect for you but it's always just hovering out of reach, even more so since that night in May. Instead of solving the mystery, it seems to have just gotten more complicated. Sometimes you still surprise me. But always you inspire me._

_Thank you for agreeing to be my wife. I love you, Kate._

He looked down at where her hands were clutching at his book, holding onto it for dear life and he finally understood. He knew that she wasn't upset, that nothing was wrong with her world. In fact, everything was just right.

In a matter of seconds, the book was forgotten, sliding out of Kate's lap as she let go and reached for Castle's face, pulling him by the jaw until his lips were meeting hers. Every word she found lodged in her throat as she tried to explain what he'd written had made her feel, she pushed into the kiss, desperate to show him what she meant. Castle's hands left her knees, seeking the soft skin at the back of her waist, travelling up her back, burying themselves in her hair – hair, lustrous hair, that he knew his hands could get lost in. Not that he'd have minded. He knew from experience just how good it could be to be stuck with Beckett, though it was always better without the tiger. Exactly when she'd moved her hands to the nape of his neck, he didn't know. Not until she tugged on the ends of his hair, pulling a groan from his lips that sent shivers racing up her spine and sending one of his hands sliding inside the plaid shirt of his she'd commandeered.

"Ew, Dad! I know you just got engaged and all, but other people live here too."

They sprang apart, Beckett biting her lip and looking away from his daughter, perhaps only a tad embarrassed, since they'd been caught in worse positions before. As she walked back into the house, Castle half groaned and half chuckled, his head dropping forwards to rest against Kate's as one of her hands still wrapped around his neck toyed with his hair.

"Breakfast?" he finally asked, feeling his stomach begin to rumble. "I can bring it to you out here."

Releasing him, she nodded. "Sounds perfect." As soon as he was gone, she was reaching for the book and flipping past his little message to reach the first page, her excitement building. Even though she was present for much of the writing, Kate was often asleep when Castle wrote, sitting next to her in bed. She had a vague idea of the plot after finding a scrap of paper bearing notes left on the kitchen counter one day (a mistake never repeated after she complained about spoilers), but for the most part she has no idea what's in store for Nikki. She was so engrossed, she almost didn't notice Castle coming back out with two freshly made pancakes covered with cut strawberries, a drizzle of syrup and a dollop of creamy yoghurt. Even whilst eating, she didn't put the book down; just went ahead and held it in the air in one hand whilst using the other to control her fork. Turning pages was awkward, but who cared when Rook was trapped in a car about to go over the end of the pier. Leave it to Rick to put a cliffhanger smack-bang in the middle of the first fifty pages.

When Alexis came back out, apparently deeming the garden a safe place again, she stops before Kate. "Finally started it then?"

Kate looked up, confused before seeing Alexis' gaze focused on the abandoned booksleeve. "Oh yeah, though knowing your father he's going to come back outside any minute now and need me to entertain him."

"I can keep him distracted," Alexis offered. "I was just going to sunbathe by the pool but I bet I can convince him to play polo or something with me."

"He's on the phone with Paula at the moment, but when he comes out, you're welcome to him." Only the back of her mind had registered his words when he grabbed her plate from her lap and stood up, announcing that he was 'ducking inside to call Paula' and that he'd 'let her know what she said.' Still as soon as she mentioned that to Alexis, she found that was all she was able to concentrate on, and Rook's fate was forgotten.

"Any luck?" she asked the second she heard his feet stepping out the door and onto the patio, craning her head around to look at him.

He looked bleak as he shook his head. She tried not to let her heart sink in disappointment, but really she couldn't help it. Even if romance hadn't exactly been in the cards for years before she met Castle, she had still been secretly looking forward to planning her wedding. She remembered all the times she'd discussed what kind of ceremony she'd like with her mother, with her friends, with Madison. She'd been thinking about flowers, colours, themes ever since she was nine, though those thoughts had almost been completely forgotten after her mother was killed and she became so focused on bringing her killer to justice. Her relationships were so temporary that she never thought about getting married ever again, well at least not until Rick had asked.

"Sorry," he whispered, watching the flicker of hope in her eyes fade away.

"You tried," she said back, just as quiet, offering him a wan smile. "Who knows, maybe the wedding planner will be great and do whatever we want."

"I'll make sure of it." He didn't really know what he was letting himself in by making that promise.

* * *

Kate found her eyes flicking up again as the sounds of Alexis' protests reached her ears.

"Dad, you did that on purpose."

"What? I honestly didn't. I just had to show you the proper execution of a dive. All of these swan dives you do are so boring."

Alexis rolled her eyes just as Kate smirked, knowing for a fact Castle had done a bomb just to soak Alexis with the splash.

"Really? I should probably give it a go then, right? Make sure I can do it right?" Without waiting for her father to answer, Alexis hauled herself out of the pool before leaping right back in with her knees tucked up under her arms.

Shaking her head at Rick's face, his eyes closed, his mouth open, spitting out water and his hair dripping, Kate directed her eyes back down to her book. It was almost lunch time and she was close to being half way through the novel. Since they were planning to head out to a restaurant for lunch, Kate really wanted to get to the end of the chapter she was currently reading before they left.

"Kate?"

"Hmm?" she murmured without tearing her gaze away from the book.

"Kate?"

"Yeah, Castle?"

"Put the book down a minute," he requested, finally getting Kate to look at him.

She wasn't sure why she listened. He usually had a good poker face, but from the glint in his eyes it was obvious he was up to something. Kate had barely set the book aside when Castle had slapped a hand across the surface of the swimming pool and sent a wave of water over her. As she gasped, both from the temperature of the water and shock, Rick bit his lip.

"Dad!"

"What? She was going to have to change anyway," he replied, nodding at the pyjamas she was still wearing.

"Oh, you are so dead, Rick!"

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**A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you think!  
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	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: This is turning into a great Castle week! I've just seen the sneak peek of season 6 (and died whilst watching it. Seriously, guys, Andrew Marlowe is trying to kill us) and also watched the hilarious season 5 bloopers. If you haven't seen the bloopers, what are you waiting for? Youtube them, you won't regret it! Anyway, thanks to everyone who has added this story to their alerts and favourites! I'm blown away by how many of you there are! Special thanks to everybody who takes the time to review! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.**

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With the end of the weekend, came the end of their break from work. Abandoning the luxury of the Hamptons, Kate, Castle and Alexis travelled back into the city Sunday evening, enjoyed a questionable dinner cooked by Martha and headed to bed with the knowledge that Kate was the on call detective from midnight. It was almost three o'clock when she rolled out of bed, just hanging up on the call to alert her of their new case.

"Time's it?" Castle slurred, waking up the second Kate's weight shifted off their shared mattress.

"2:49," she murmured back, bending over his sleep-riddled form to smooth his hair. "Go back to bed, Castle. You don't have to come out on this one."

"I'm already up," he argued, forcing his body into complying. Whilst she grabbed a quick shower, he tried to clear the imprints of dreams from his mind, leaning against the headboard as he rubbed his eyes. In his still-dark bedroom, it was all too easy to fall back into a deep sleep so he pushed back the covers and stood, ignoring the way the room swayed as the blood rushed to his head. "Coffee," he muttered, "Need. Coffee." In just his pyjama pants, he walked out into the living room, knocking into the doorframe in the dark and cursing as he hopped about on one leg for a few moments. Just the smell of coffee-beans as he pushed the plunger down on his coffee press woke him up. After filling two cups with a liberal amount, he forewent the milk, cream and sugar, knowing that to make it through the morning he and Kate would both need their coffee black.

Kate was out of the shower, towelling her hair when he slid the mug onto the top of his dresser, his chin lingering on her bare neck and shoulder longer than necessary as he enjoyed the intense aroma of cherries surrounding her.

"Thanks." After taking a sip, having to press her lips close to keep from moaning at the taste of Castle's expensive ground coffee, she asked, "Did I hear a bang?" If the sun had begun to rise, perhaps she would have seen Castle's neck flush.

"Maybe I shut the cupboard door a bit heavily."

Kate turned back to the dresser and pulled out a carefully folded purple linen shirt. "It sounded more like a thud though. Like it was something heavy…" When Castle didn't answer, she let it drop, focusing on putting the shirt's buttons through the right holes.

* * *

"Morning Castle," Ryan said, holding the crime scene tape up for him to duck under.

Castle grunted in response, his brain not quite functioning after he managed to knock most of his coffee onto his shag carpet as he hopped about trying to pull his socks on.

Sighing, Kate pulled out her purse and called over one of the uniforms, instructing them to procure another coffee from somewhere for Castle. It wouldn't do to have him be grumpier than her, then who would entertain her?

"What have we got?" she asked, turning to Esposito for the rundown on their newest case.

"Looks like another B&E gone wrong," he shrugged, flipping open his notepad. "Vic's name is Jason Robinson. According to his fiancée, who found the body, he was home alone whilst she worked a late nursing shift at the hospital. Ms Carmichael came home at two thirty and placed the call to emergency services."

Kate nodded and headed inside the apartment building to make her own assessment of the crime scene, Castle following behind like a lost puppy. Pausing only a moment at the busted front door, Kate made a note of the blood smears around the door frame before continuing in to confer with the medical examiner and her best friend.

"Hey Lanie," Kate greeted, kneeling beside her friend to get a look at the body.

Lanie nodded and glanced back at Castle, expecting a greeting from him too. When none was forthcoming and she had been watching him stare at a painting on the wall, she asked, "What happened to Castle? Someone party too hard this weekend?"

Kate hid a smirk behind the back of her hand as the uniform she had tasked with getting him a coffee returned and placed the steaming drink under Castle's nose. Instantly, his gaze tore away from the painting to the polystyrene cup and his hands sprang forwards to take it. Shaking her head, Kate looked back at the body.

"What do we know so far?"

"Cause of death is the lovely head wound you can see up here." Castle and Kate followed where Lanie pointed her pen, wincing at the mashed state of Jason Robinson's scalp.

"What on earth did that?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, Castle," Lanie replied, making another note on her clipboard. "As for time of death, I'd say after two this morning, but I might be able to get you something more exact when I get the body back to the morgue and take his liver temperature."

"After two o'clock? I bet the fiancée just missed the killer."

"Hey, Ryan, you know if this building has cameras?"

"There's one covering the entrance from the street but nothing inside or on the fire escape," he answered.

Beckett nodded, expecting as much. "See if you can get hold of the tapes for last night and this morning, verify what time Ms Carmichael came home. Esposito, I'm going to need you to get Ms Carmichael back in here once CSU have finished collecting evidence and see if she can tell us what was stolen."

Ryan nodded, leaving the apartment to find the super and requisition the CCTV tapes. With her primary examination done, Lanie had the body bagged and stretchered out to the morgue-mobile, leaving Kate to take a look at the rest of the crime scene. If it weren't for smashed lock on the door and marks around the doorframe, it wouldn't have been classed as a breaking and entering crime scene. None of the rooms looked like they'd been tossed; every room was as neat and tidy as a showhome except the living room, where it was obvious the attack had taken place.

* * *

Castle had just returned from the break room with two coffees when Ryan announced that the CCTV footage confirmed the Lucy Carmichael's story. She had indeed returned to the apartment at two thirty.

"Anyone rush out before or after her?"

"No, sorry-" Ryan began before being cut off by the phone on Kate's desk ringing. "Beckett," she answered, picking up immediately. "Hey, Espo. Really? That's all that was stolen? Okay, thanks. I'll see you back at the precinct." Castle and Ryan looked at her, waiting for her to repeat whatever Esposito had said. "Apparently, the only thing stolen from the apartment was Lucy's wedding ring."

"That's it? Just a wedding ring?" Ryan asked.

At Beckett's nod, Castle added, "How many carats was it?"

"0.5."

"Why does someone break into an apartment and murder someone all for a two carat diamond wedding ring?" Castle mused aloud before gasping, "Maybe it's not just _any _ring. What if it's _precious?_"

Kate rolled her eyes.

"You said it yourself, Ryan. Nobody entered or left the apartment building, so how did our murderer get in and out? They had to be invisible."

"You're forgetting about the fire escape, Castle," Kate said. "We'd better make sure CSU sweep it." Picking up the phone again, she placed a quick call to ensure the fire escape was photographed and dusted for prints. Whilst she talked, Castle and Ryan reminisced about the first time they saw Lord of the Rings. "Okay, guys, I hate to interrupt this budding bromance but we have a case to solve, remember?" Standing, she began their murder board, starting with the photo CSU had faxed to her computer and writing their vic's name underneath. From her office, Captain Gates watched Kate write in block capitals, 'break in, why just the wedding ring taken?'

"I've got it," Castle declared. "Jealous ex-girlfriend!"

"Why'd you say that?" Ryan asked, giving Castle a dubious look.

"Well, who else would steal a wedding ring when the guy had cash in his wallet and a genuine Banksy print on his wall? If they'd broken in looking for the biggest score, they'd have taken the painting and fenced it, made hundreds of thousands easily. Whatever this is about, it definitely isn't money."

"I didn't know you were an art fan."

"Research," Castle shrugged. "Mother always did enjoy extravagant birthday presents."

Kate spat her coffee back into her cup. "You bought your mother a Banksy print for her birthday?"

"No, I bought her a Klimt."

"How deep _are _your pockets?"

Castle shrugged. "I don't really keep track. One of the first things I did was set up a trust fund for Alexis, but everything else just goes into my bank account. Every year, Gina sits me down and gets me to pick charities to donate to. When Alexis was younger, I splurged a bit more, spoiled her, but now it mainly just sits there."

Ryan shook his head, wondering how Castle could be so blasé about his wealth. Kate glanced down at the ring on her hand, admiring it once again but also trying to determine exactly how much money Castle might have spent on it. It didn't look like it would have cost him much, the diamond reasonably small, but she also knew that Castle wasn't averted by five or six zero price tags; in fact sometimes he seemed to be drawn to them. As the theme tune from Castle's favourite TV show rang out in the precinct, Kate looked up to see him grimace at the caller ID of whoever was calling.

"Paula," Castle said coldly as he swiped his thumb to accept the call.

Ignoring the hostility in his greeting, Paula acted as if he had never spoken. "I've arranged a meeting for you with your wedding planner. Rachel Winters is her name. She'll see you at _Starbucks _on Delancey at twelve fifteen." Without another word, she hung up.

"Bye Paula," Castle muttered, looking down at his phone.

"What now?" Kate sighed, feeling her heart sink.

"She's set up a meeting with the wedding planner-"

"-You guys hired a wedding planner?"

"_Paula _hired us a wedding planner," Kate corrected stiffly before turning back to Castle. "When?"

"Today. Luckily, it's during your lunch break."

* * *

"I've got a grande skim latte with two pumps vanilla; no sugar and a grande caramel macchiato for…_Aragorn_?" the barista called out.

"Oh, that's me!" Castle answered, smiling whilst Kate rolled her eyes. Picking the two steaming beverages off the counter, he returned to Beckett at their table and handed her the latte. "There you go, Ar-"

"-Don't you dare call me Arwen, Richard Castle."

He gulped at the use of his full name. Kate _never _called him Richard. All it took was a quick twist of his ear for him to correct himself.

"Apples! Apples!"

Kate quirked an eyebrow, waiting.

"Sorry, Kate, honey."

"So, tell me about this wedding planner then," Kate said, sliding her fingers through the handle of her mug and raising it to her lips to blow across the surface of her latte before taking a sip.

"There's not much to tell. Paula said her name was-"

"-Rachel Winters. You must be Detective Beckett."

Kate and Rick looked up at the woman as she joined their table, taking the only vacant seat. In her late twenties, dressed in a tailored suit with a Bluetooth device as her only jewellery, Rachel Winters was the perfect business woman. The armchair was plush, but Rachel Winters perched on the edge of the seat, leaning away from the back of the chair and towards the table as she placed her folders down and spread them out before sliding her handbag off her shoulder and positioning it beside her feet.

"Hi, Rick Castle."

He threw out his hand but the wedding planner just glanced at it before replying, "Pleasure," and passing Kate a brochure. "Paula has briefed me, and I've already booked the selected venue for the reception for the fifteenth of October-"

"-Selected venue?" Kate queried.

"_This _October?" Castle enquired, peering over Kate's shoulder to look at the front cover of the booklet in her hands that she appeared to have forgotten about.

"Yes, the Plaza Hotel is booked under your name, Mr Castle-"

"-Sorry-" Castle tried interrupting.

"-for the fifteenth of October this year." She smiled pleasantly, not seeming to realise that neither Kate nor Castle's questions had been of good-natured interest; but rather annoyance and disbelief. "There are a range of rooms, but of course the terrace room is the best-"

"-Could we just-" Kate said, attempting to divert their wedding planner long enough to put a stop to her control over their wedding.

"-The terrace room seats over two hundred people and –" Rachel held up her hand as she said, "One moment, please." Flipping her blonde shoulder-length hair back, she touched a finger to her handsfree Bluetooth earpiece and spoke. "Henry, yes, I'm with them right now. Vera has a spot for her? Oh excellent. Yes, Friday afternoon will be wonderful. And if you could discuss a menu with Gordon, you would be the world's best assistant. Thanks, Henry. Oh, that was my assistant Henry," she told Kate and Rick. "He's got an initial dress fitting with Vera Wang booked for Friday afternoon. Now, where were we?"

"Rachel, let me just put you straight a moment, okay?" Kate asked, though her tone made it clear she didn't want an answer. "You seem to be under the impression that you can make whatever decisions you want about our wedding and Rick and I will just meekly accept them. I think you'll find the usual business arrangement between wedding planner and client is that the client tells the planner what they want and the planner gets it done for them." Rick gazed at his fiancée in wonder. She was using the voice she reserved for cracking the tough nuts in the interview room, the one that said she was boss, the one that made him want to drop everything and push her up against a wall while his mouth assailed hers. Rachel Winters never stood a chance. "So let me tell you what's going to happen. You're going to cancel the booking with the Plaza and get us a smaller venue, since we won't be needing two hundred seats. Rick and I want a smaller, intimate reception with friends and family."

"Right," Rachel agreed. "It's just-"

At the trilling of her cell phone, Kate pulled it from her pocket and answered without even shooting Rachel a cursory glance. "Beckett," Kate answered.

"We've got a lead on the Jason Robinson case. Apparently he was due to appear in court regarding a restraining order. I've got the lawyer on his way down to the precinct right now."

"Set him up in interview room three. I'm on my way right now. Thanks, Espo." She was on her feet as she hung up, pulled her jacket from the back of her chair and pushed her arms through.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm a New York homicide detective. I've got a murder to solve." Turning to Castle, she asked, "You coming, Pippin?"

Castle leapt up, downed his lukewarm macchiato and followed Kate towards the door.

As she reached for the door handle, something else occurred to her. "Oh, and one last thing, Rachel? There is no way in hell that this wedding is turning into a media circus. There won't be any reporters at our wedding, nor will we be auctioning photos. If you get all that right, then we'll get along famously, Rachel."

"God, I love you," Castle murmured, as Kate wrenched the door open and strode out into the sunshine.

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**A/N: There should be another update on Sunday/Monday. Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!**

**(Oh, I should probably explain all the Lord of the Rings stuff... I got a little obsessed recently because I'm reading the Hobbit and re-watching the LOTR films. In fact I wrote this chapter whilst watching the Two Towers and Return of the King. I hope you guys don't mind!)**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thank yous go to jellybean96, hfce, htbuzz and the anonymous reviewer for reviewing the last chapter! I promised a chapter on Sunday/Monday, so here it is. I was a bit busy at the weekend – my sister practically demanded I watch Pan's Labyrinth with her and my mum since I've never seen it – and so it was a rush to write this chapter and I haven't had as much time as usual to check it for mistakes and such, so apologies if there are any. If you spot any, just let me know (either by review or PM) and I'll gladly make corrections.**

* * *

Castle followed Kate to her Dodge Charger, unaware that he in turn was being pursued by their wedding planner until she began calling out.

"Wait!"

Kate span on her heel, causing Castle to crash into her, his hands instinctively grabbing the first part of her they could. Righting themselves, both of them glanced down at his hands resting on top of her breasts.

"Really, Castle?" Sometimes she swore he just couldn't keep his hands to himself. It was just like him to use their collision as an opportunity to touch her up.

His voice was tight, an octave lower, as he replied, "Right, sorry," and pulled his arms back, the movement jerky.

Both of them turned at the sound of Rachel's voice. "I understand what you're saying, Detective Beckett, but the venue is booked and the deposit has already been paid-"

"-How exactly has the deposit been paid? I don't recall handing out my credit card details or authorising this payment," Castle said calmly.

"I thought Paula spoke with you about this. The payment was cleared by her. I've just been following her instructions-"

Again Rachel was interrupted, this time by Kate cursing.

"Isn't this what you wanted?" Rachel asked, confusion suffusing her voice as she looked from Kate to Castle.

"Kate and I haven't had much time to discuss what we want, but neither have we given Paula any instructions." His eyes flicked to Kate to take in the tight line her lips had flattened into and he vowed there and then to have another word with Paula.

"I swear I didn't know." Rachel shot a frantic look at Kate and the slight bulge under her jacket, knowing there was a gun hidden there in a holster. "I'm afraid you're going to be stuck with the Plaza Hotel and October fifteenth for the big day now, but I'll do whatever else I can to give you the wedding you both want. Why don't we start with a discussion of what ideas you've had so far?"

* * *

Esposito shot Kate a look as she breezed into the precinct with one more person than usual trailing her.

"Don't even ask," she muttered, stopping at his desk.

After noting the hard set of her jaw and the wary looks Castle kept shooting Beckett's way, Javi wisely didn't mention the perky blonde standing awkwardly in the middle of the precinct and instead said, "Lawyer's name is John Jones-"

"-Does he happen to have green skin and come from Mars because that would make this case even better?"

Kate rolled her eyes at Esposito and took the file he was offering her, striding away to the interview rooms, her chunky heels echoing off the laminate flooring with every determined step. She left the door open for Castle and took one of the seats opposite her interviewee. She didn't even look up at the sound of the door closing, instead quickly scanning the information provided by Espo.

"Mr Jones, I'm Detective Beckett," she finally said, looking up and making a quick inspection of the lawyer. "This is Rick Castle."

The greying lawyer nodded at them both. "I understand this is about Jason Robinson case?"

"Yes, what can you tell us about it? When did Jason first approach you with his case?"

"Jason came to my offices after setting up an appointment with my receptionist, Erica. It must have been about two months ago, I can get the exact date from Erica – she's very meticulous with the books."

Kate nodded, making a note in the space at the bottom of her file to get in contact with the receptionist to verify a date.

"And Jason wanted a restraining order?"

"Yes, he said he'd been having trouble with a stalker-"

"-Did he not contact the police?" Castle asked.

"Jason said he had spoken with the police, but that there was nothing they could do to help him in this instance as they found no evidence of Ms Everson having any involvement with him aside from working together."

Kate glanced behind her at the two-way mirror, knowing that it would be enough to get Javi to dig up the reports in question.

"Ms Everson?"

"Yes, Kathleen Everson, Jason's ex-fiancée."

Kate didn't miss the triumphant look Castle shot her, but refused to meet his eyes and allow him to gloat. "How was the case going?"

"Jason and I expected to attain the restraining order. Ms Everson's defence wasn't as strong as our case. Jason was going to testify tomorrow."

Kate nodded. "You've been very helpful, Mr Jones. Thank you for taking the time to come and talk with me."

As Kate and Castle left the interview room, he was crowing. "I knew it! Didn't I say it was going to be an ex-girlfriend!"

Kate walked right to the murder board, shooting Castle a look to shut him up. He watched silently as she grabbed the black pen and wrote underneath suspects, '_Kathleen Everson'_.

"Ryan, we've got our first suspect. Find an address for Kathleen Everson."

"On it," he called back, already typing a search into his computer. "You were right about the killer taking to fire escape as their way out. CSU found some partial prints on the handrail. Oh, and Lanie called. She said she's found something."

"Great, thanks." Kate left the folder on her desk, trying not to appear fazed by the fact that Rachel had exited the observation room and taken up residence in Castle's seat beside her desk.

"Detective Beckett, are you available for the discussion yet?"

"Sorry, I've got to get down to the morgue and speak with the Medical Examiner, but I'm sure Castle can tell you everything you want to know. Right, Castle?"

Castle looked up from where he was staring at the murder board, completely oblivious to Kate and Rachel's conversation. "What?"

"You can have that discussion with Rachel while I go down to the morgue can't you?"

Leaving him no choice, Kate hung her jacket over the back of the chair and hurried away. There was nothing particularly wrong with Rachel, per se, and she had gone up in Kate's estimations since she'd promised to plan the wedding they wanted. The look of respect and admiration that seemed to be constantly in her eyes when she was facing Kate, however, was slightly disconcerting if not annoying.

When she stepped in to the morgue, Lanie took one look at her and said, "Never thought I'd see the day, Kate Beckett looked flustered."

Kate shot her a look. "You have something for me?"

"Over there on the counter," Lanie answered, using her head to point rather than her hands which were still inspecting the cadaver's intestines.

Kate pushed aside the magazine, searching for a piece of paper related to her case, but finding none. "A wedding magazine? I kind of meant something about Jason Robinson over there."

"Well, I can tell you something about him too. I've narrowed down the possibilities of the murder weapon." She peeled the latex gloves off her hands, careful not to smear blood over her wrists, and led Kate over to one of her computers. "I got one of the techs to create a 3D model of the murder weapon."

"Is this a head massage implement?"

"Looks that way, though I'd say the legs would have had to have been sharpened to create cuts like the ones on our victim." Both Kate and Lanie glanced over at the body laid open on one of Lanie's slabs. "You know who did it yet?"

"Got a suspect, his ex-fiancée."

Lanie nodded, trusting her friend to get Jason Robinson the justice he deserved. "Where's Castle?"

"I left him with the wedding planner," Kate murmured, still looking at their victim's body.

"Excuse me? Did you just say '_wedding planner'_?"

"Yeah," Kate sighed.

"And I was going to invite you to my place for a girl's night and look through that magazine with you. What are you hiring a wedding planner for?"

"We haven't hired a wedding planner."

Lanie was slow in replying, "Then how is it you've got one?"

"Paula," was Kate's only answer.

"Now you're definitely going to have to come over and give me the proper story, girl."

Kate nodded her agreement. It would be nice to spend some time with Lanie. She hadn't had a proper chat with her since the proposal, and she knew Lanie probably still wanted all the details. And she should probably try and lay down some groundrules for her bachelorette party before Lanie made any outrageous plans.

"Hold up, did you say you left Castle alone with the wedding planner?"

* * *

"Kate said that you wanted a small wedding? Just close friends and family?"

Castle nodded.

"How many people would be invited then? Just an estimate," Rachel asked, giving Rick a friendly smile when panic took over his features.

"Err…maybe one hundred," he guessed without really thinking, just hoping he was saying the right thing.

"The Plaza requests two hundred guests, but with the publicity they'll get from having you and Detective Beckett as customers, I'm sure we can manage a compromise with them. I'll speak to them straight away." Castle nodded. "Have you and Kate discussed a colour scheme at all?"

"No."

"What about flowers?"

"No."

Trying another tact, Rachel asked, "Have you and Kate made any decisions regarding ushers and bridesmaids?"

"I know Kate's asked Lanie to be her Maid of Honour, but I haven't asked anyone to be my Best Man yet." Rick shot Rachel an apologetic look. He and Kate hadn't gotten very far with their planning at all, and all these questions about colour schemes and flowers, he was sure Kate would have been the better person to ask. He wanted what she wanted, he just didn't know what that was yet.

"Do you want the ceremony in a church?"

Castle was stumped. He had no idea whether Kate would want them to be married in a church with a vicar.

* * *

"Yeah, I left Castle with the wedding planner," Kate replied, not getting what was making Lanie so panicked.

"Are you crazy?! You're going to end up a _Star Wars_ themed wedding or something!"

Kate's jaw dropped. Would Castle really make those kind of decisions without her? She didn't really want to find out.

"What are you still doing standing here?" Lanie demanded, giving Kate a push towards the door. Set in motion, Kate dashed out the room, Lanie calling out after her, "Don't forget to tell me what happens! And don't forget about tonight!"

The journey back from the morgue had never felt longer. In the lift up to homicide, Kate impatiently tapped her foot and nervously clenched and relaxed her hands while staring at the panel indicating which floor the lift was currently on, willing the elevator to move faster. The doors were barely open when she burst through, startling two uniforms waiting on the other side, and bolted to her desk.

* * *

"Mr Castle?" Rachel asked again.

"I should probably talk to Kate before I answer that one," he told her. "We really haven't had a lot of time to talk about this."

He looked up as Kate suddenly appeared, skidding to a stop beside her desk, her hand placed on his shoulder for support as she leaned forwards and tried to catch her breath.

"Castle, we are not having a Firefly themed wedding!" she wheezed.

"O-kay. I wasn't going to suggest one," Castle answered, looking at her with concern.

"Why don't I give the two of you a couple of days to talk things over, decide together what kind of wedding you want?" Rachel suggested, looking considerably freaked out as she vacated Beckett's chair and collected her folders. "Here's my card. Get in contact when you're ready."

As soon as Rachel was out of earshot, Kate asked, "What did you say to her?"

"Nothing," Castle replied, trying to remain reassuring though even he heard the defensive shade his tone had taken. "That's why she wants us to talk things over."

She held his gaze for a few moments before nodding.

"This would have been a whole lot simpler if Paula had just let us alone to make these decisions ourselves," she muttered, sitting down and remembering about the case as she caught sight of the folder on Jason Robinson's court case tidied away at the edge of her desk. "Ryan, where are we with Kathleen Everson's address?"

"I got it right here." Ryan passed Beckett a sheet of paper bearing Kathleen Everson's basic information, including her next of kin, which was still listed as Jason Robinson. "The headteacher at Adam's Prep said she'd called in sick this morning, so I sent uniforms round to her address."

"She's a teacher?"

"Yeah, teaches tenth grade. I've also got an APB out on her car and put an alert out to airlines and train stations."

Kate nodded her thanks. "Javi, you manage to find the reports filed with the police for Jason's stalker?"

"Got 'em right here," Espo nodded, holding up an open manila folder. "Robinson reported harassment at work, that his desk was broken into and a picture of him and Lucy was vandalised and the feeling that someone was following him. The vandalised picture and break in were written off as students messing around, one of them even owned up to it."

"Motives then?"

"Simple," Castle said. "She was jealous. He was moving on, getting married to someone else."

"You really think it's that straightforward?" Ryan asked.

"All the signs point to that conclusion."

Kate nodded as she updated the murder board with the new information from Javi and Lanie. It did indeed look like Kathleen Everson had been unable to deal with the fact that Jason had moved on.

"The murder weapon is one of those head massage things? Really?" Esposito asked, looking disgusted.

"Jenny loves those."

"She wouldn't if she saw Jason Robinson's scalp," Ryan's partner replied, eyes fixed on the crime scene photo attached onto the board with a magnetic clip.

As if he hadn't heard, Ryan continued, "Especially now she's getting headaches because she's not drinking coffee anymore."

Lips curling into a grin, Castle asked, "And why isn't she drinking coffee anymore?" He knew exactly why Jenny had stopped drinking coffee – and wine as well, as he recalled from his engagement party – there was only one reason a woman stopped drinking caffeinated coffee. But he wanted to hear Ryan say it and he was enjoying immensely the way Ryan's mouth hung open, as he blatantly hadn't really realised exactly what he was saying outloud.

"Because…" he trailed off, searching for an excuse.

"It's okay, Ryan, you don't have to tell us. You and Jenny should announce it together when you're both comfortable," Kate said, jumping to his rescue, still looking at the murder board, however, and tapping the capped end of the pen against her chin.

"Kate," Castle whined, "you're spoiling all the fun."

"If that's your definition of fun, then I'll obviously have to show you something better," she replied, sinking back down into her seat opposite him, smirking despite her nonchalant tone at the look of arousal he shot her.

"You tease," he whispered, jumping as one of her feet ran up the inside of one of his legs. "I thought in the workplace was forbidden!"

Rolling her eyes, Kate dropped her foot. "Guess you'll have to wait till we get home then."

Castle groaned and closed his eyes, making Kate smother a laugh behind a fake cough. Both of them stopped playing around the second the phone on Ryan's desk began to ring though.

"Ryan," he answered. "I see." Covering the receiver, he announced, "Uniforms are at Kathleen Everson's apartment. According to neighbours, she left last night at around midnight and never came back."

"Fits the timeline," Kate muttered to herself, checking the murder board even though she had the timeline memorised. "Have some uniforms wait in plain clothes overnight to see if she comes back." Ryan nodded and passed the instructions on down the phone. "I doubt she'll return to her apartment, so let's call it a night and speak to her friends and family tomorrow, find out if there's somewhere else she would be able to go to hide. Javi, Kevin, can you hit her school and speak to the other teachers?"

"Sure, Beckett."

"We'll get onto finding her parents," Beckett finished, scanning the profile on their suspect again and finding no mention of her parents. It was going to take some digging to find them, but it would have to wait till the morning because she was beat and Kathleen Everson wasn't going anywhere whilst they had every authority on the lookout for her.

* * *

The second Lanie opened her apartment door, she was saying, "Girl, please tell me you're not having a sci-fi wedding!"

"Thankfully, no," Kate replied, accepting her friends hug before removing her coat. Lanie was quick to hand her a glass of wine and direct her to the living room where the floor and coffee table were literally completely covered with an array of wedding magazines. "Lanie, where did you get all these?"

Ignoring Kate's quirked eyebrow and incredulous tone, Lanie answered, "I have a monthly subscription."

"For how long? There's probably four years' worth of magazines here! And, unless you're the world's best secret keeper, you've never even been engaged, Lanie."

"Doesn't mean I can't start planning now," Lanie replied serenely, sitting in front of the couch, with her wine glass resting beside her, and grabbing a magazine at random. "I think you'd look best in something strapless."

Kate shook her head as she realised that apparently their first conversation was already over and the topic had changed to her wedding dress. Sitting down beside Lanie and picking up her own magazine to flip through, she murmured, "Well, that idea may not be the most sensible since it's been determined that I'm going to be getting married in October. It might be too cold for a strapless dress."

"Sorry, rewind a second! You've set a date already?"

"No, Paula and our wedding planner have set a date already. Oh, and we're getting married at the Plaza."

"The Plaza! Castle's credit card is gonna take a beating," Lanie said with wide eyes.

"I know," Kate sighed. "I think we've managed to convince Rachel to listen to us about everything else though."

"I sense a story here, Kate Beckett."

Kate grinned. "I may have let rip on her."

Lanie laughed. "I bet her face was a picture. No-one can survive the wrath of Detective Kate Beckett once it's been unleashed."

Kate exhaled and simultaneously choked, trying not to snort and almost spewing a mouthful of red wine over Lanie's magazines and carpet. "It was kind of full on," she admitted, remembering Rachel's surprise and the indignant look on her face when she was on the receiving end of someone not letting her speak.

"What does Castle have to say about all of this?"

"Well, he's not exactly happy with Paula."

"Neither am I," Lanie said. "I thought she was his publisher, not his PA."

"Apparently she's doing all this because we have to 'have the wedding of the century.'" Kate replied, her voice turning hostile as she quoted Paula. "The whole thing's ridiculous and she won't listen to reason. Castle's already called her once, but he said he would again tonight. She authorised the booking of the Plaza with his account without even telling him."

"Maybe you should put her in her place too," Lanie suggested, already picturing Kate going toe to toe with Castle's harsh, all-business publisher, a contest Kate would win any day. Even without seeing Kate in interrogation, she knew that.

"Maybe," Kate conceded with a small smile. She didn't particularly want to have cross swords with Paula though and make things worse for Rick.

"You could always wear a stole around your shoulders," Lanie suggested, showing Kate a faux fur one in her magazine. When Kate said nothing, she couldn't help feeling concerned. "Is everything okay?" She was barely paying attention to her magazine, flipping the pages without really seeming to look at the dresses or articles.

Kate shrugged. "The dress doesn't really seem that important right now. Castle wanted to know whether I wanted to get married in a church."

"Well do you?"

"Neither Castle or I are religious but I guess I always imagined getting married in a church when I was younger. My parents were."

"Then you've got your answer."

"You don't think Castle will mind?" Kate asked, worrying about being selfish.

"Girl, that man would do anything for you! Of course he's not going to mind! Heck, he'll insist you get married in the same church your parents did – you know he will!"

"You're probably right."

"You _know _I'm right. Now, if you're not going to look at a dress for you, at least decide what I'm going to wear."

Kate smiled to herself. Sometimes Lanie knew just the right thing to say.

* * *

**A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think! (And apologies again if there are mistakes/typos!) The next chapter will be put up later this week!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Sorry this chapter has taken me a bit longer. I promised it'd be here later this week and I'm glad to have managed to get it up today. It's just a bit longer than I originally anticipated, and I've had a reasonably busy week even though I don't really feel like I've actually done anything. **

* * *

With Kate enjoying an evening with Lanie, Castle decided it was time he called Paula.

His fingers hit the speed dial and he waited patiently for the line to connect.

"_Hello, you have reached the voicemail of Paula Haas. If this phone call is in regards to a manuscript, please phone my assistant on this number…" _

Rick paid little heed to Paula's recorded message, having heard it so many times in his career that he probably knew it off by heart anyway. Figuring she was probably a little busy and he could just try again in a few minutes time, Rick disconnected the call without leaving a message and set about finding something to eat in his woefully under-stocked kitchen. He _really _needed to find some time to go grocery shopping. In the back of the fridge he found some leftover chili, which he sniffed suspiciously before shrugging and spooning it into a pan to heat over the stove.

As soon as he ate a mouthful, he remembered that it was the chili he and Kate had made together the night before Alexis' homecoming and grinned as his brain was flooded with images of Kate quietly singing as she stirred a wooden spoon around the pan. If only he'd managed to sneak a video of her. He'd tried to surreptitiously pull his phone from his pocket, making it look like he'd received a text and was replying, but apparently his little act hadn't been very convincing.

"Don't even think about it, Castle," she'd said, turning away from him just in case the camera was already rolling. How exactly that comment had turned the night into a miniature food fight, he had no idea. He just knew that Kate had _definitely _not appreciated him swiping a finger dunked in their chili sauce down her nose. And she'd given him her meanest stare when a splatter of chili on her neck had run down onto the collar of her shirt.

"Maybe you should take that off so you don't get more chili on it," he'd suggested innocently, expecting her to shoot him down and ending up pleasantly surprised when she slipped the first button out. He hadn't known what had hit him, until he focused on Kate's smirking face as chili rained down his cheek.

When it started to sting, burning his skin, she'd told him, "Stop being such a wimp, Castle." But she'd wiped away the offending chili anyway and towed him towards his bathroom anyway, both of them scrubbing furiously before he held her up against the cold tiled wall with her legs wrapped tightly around him.

A satisfied smirk spread across Rick's face as he took the first bite, hoping it tasted as good as when he had licked it off Kate's neck, only to be slightly disappointed. When he was done, he set the bowl aside on the coffee table and dialled Paula again only to get her voicemail for the second time.

After getting her voicemail for the fifth time, he grabbed the jacket he had flung over the back of the couch before throwing himself down on the cushions upon entering the loft, and left, locking the door behind him. His town car took him right to Black Pawn's offices, the air conditioning keeping him cool in the muggy air despite his hot temper. Arriving outside, he asked his driver to wait and walked in through the revolving doors, marching straight past the reception desk and jabbing at the button for the seventh floor.

His fist was heavy as he knocked on Paula's door.

"Come in," she called, though Castle had already twisted the knob and pushed the door open. "Rick." For once her face showed emotion. She was surprised to see him. "I wasn't expecting to see you till Monday. Is there a problem? I hope you haven't changed your mind about-"

"I'm still doing the damn book tour, Paula," he growled, completely forgetting to shut the door, still gripping the handle.

"Then what exactly is it I can do for you, Richard?" she asked, picking up one of the many pieces of paper on her desk to survey it for a brief second before looking down at the one underneath, scribbling a few notes down the side of it.

Only more aggravated by her lack of attention to him, Rick released the door, letting it slam behind him as he approached the desk. "You can stop interfering with my wedding for one."

"I haven't been interfering, Rick." It was a quiet, assured response. "I've left everything to Rachel to sort out. If you don't like her, I assure you, she's the best – came highly recommended by Kim Kardashian's assistant."

"Kate and I don't have a problem with Rachel. What we have a problem with is you telling her to book the Plaza without even consulting us. And since when have you been able to authorise payments from my credit card?"

Finally Paula dropped her pen and paperwork she was scrutinising, turning her gaze instead to study Rick.

"When you married Gina, you tried to get the Plaza but it was booked. I just assumed that you'd want the venue again this time around and booked one of their cancellations before it was snapped. Sorry, for trying to do be helpful, Richard." He didn't miss her reverting to calling him Richard, a sign that she wasn't pleased with him.

"That was different, _I _was different back then. And it was Gina who wanted the Plaza. I know you don't know Kate well, but surely even you can tell that she's not the kind of person who would want the big, white, fairytale wedding."

"You sure she's not just another of your-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence," Rick said, his voice dropping a few octaves until its gravelly tone sounded like he had crawled right out of hell itself. "Kate is _anything _but a bimbo only after my money. You _know _that. At least I thought you did. And if you can't be supportive of our personal choices, then you know it's not too late for me to find another publisher. It's not like I haven't had offers."

Rick's threat hung in the air between them whilst Paula simply surveyed him, trying to determine how much truth there was in his statement.

"I haven't had any problems with you or Black Pawn until now, Paula. I don't want to do this, but I will if I have to, if you can't respect mine and Kate's autonomy. You control my professional life, but you have no place in my personal life except as a friend."

Paula's poker face held for a few torturous seconds before falling with her sigh. "Sorry, Rick, the orders came from above. Mr Wilson requested a public wedding to boost your book sales – not that they need it," Paula muttered, referring to Black Pawn's CEO. "I was just as blindsided by this as you were."

* * *

Slightly tipsy from wine consumption, Kate giggled as she fell through the loft door and into Castle's surprised arms after rather stupidly leaning against the entrance whilst she pushed her key into the lock. Usually she wouldn't have drunk more than a glass, and definitely not whilst she was in the middle of an unsolved case and would be required to work the next day, but Lanie had been insistent on refilling her glass and eventually she'd just lost track of how many times Lanie had opened a new bottle.

"Hey Castle," she slurred.

"Miss Beckett, I'm shocked. Are you drunk?"

"No." He couldn't help chuckling quietly in her ear at that answer whilst his arms held all her weight. "I rang Reverend Green," she declared.

"Not in this state, I hope." He'd muttered the words, but Kate still heard and aimed a swat at the back of his head though her hand barely touched him. "Am I allowed to know why you had to speak to a reverend so desperately?"

"Well I had to speak to him about the church."

"Still not quite getting it over here, Kate," Castle said, shifting her forwards so she was resting against his shoulder instead of looking up at him from where she had been hovering above the floor in the cradle of his arms.

He was shuffling her forwards in the direction of their bedroom when she finally replied, speaking around a yawn, "Reverend Green is gonna marry us, Castle." Her head dropped back and a soft snore passed through her lips, his sleeping fiancée completely oblivious to his shock. Shaking aside the stupor, he ducked down and grabbed Kate's legs, lifting her bodily from the floor and into his arms.

"Come on," he murmured. "Let's get you to bed."

When Kate woke up the next morning, and shuffled into the kitchen at six, she found Alexis pouring a cup of coffee that was soon pressed into her hands.

"Dad's orders," Alexis said at Kate's questioning glance, before turning to the hob and placing a few rashers of bacon in the frying pan she had out. "He's also instructed that you have a greasy breakfast-"

"-Alexis, I can make my own breakfast," Kate interrupted softly; keeping her voice quiet to avoid igniting the headache she knew was just waiting to roar to life. When she stood up to help, she just received a push on the shoulders from Alexis that sent her right back onto her stool.

"I haven't been at college long, Kate, but even I know what a hangover looks like. I have been on the receiving end of a few."

"I'm fine, I don't have a-" Alexis silenced her with a look Lanie would have been proud of and Kate dropped her chin onto her folded arms on the top of the counter, trying not to be embarrassed. "You'd better not let your dad hear you say that. Actually, on second thoughts, he'd probably be proud you were finally showing some of his personality traits."

Alexis laughed as she cracked the first of the eggs into the frying pan. A few minutes later, she slid a plate bearing Kate's breakfast onto the table in front of her before grabbing a box of cereal and a bowl for herself from one of the cupboards.

"Where is Castle then? He didn't get you out of bed early just to make me breakfast, did he?"

"He's gone to Black Pawn for an early meeting to go through final plans for the book tour with Paula and Gina. And, no, he didn't even wake me up. I got up early so I could phone Pi, not that Dad knows that, of course."

"Relax," Kate said as she heard the panicked cadence to Alexis' voice. "I haven't said a word."

"Thanks," Alexis breathed, sighing in relief.

"You know, if you just talked to your dad, I'm sure he would be okay with you seeing Pi." Alexis raised her eyebrows. "You know, eventually."

"He's just so protective. I mean, I get it, after Paris and everything and in a way it's good; but it's also suffocating. He was so close to jumping on a plane and coming with me to Costa Rica when I was completely safe with my professors and classmates."

"He knows how you feel," Kate replied, laying a reassuring hand over Alexis' and giving it a squeeze. "He's trying." Changing the topic, she asked, "So what are you doing today?"

"Paige has invited me to stay with her for the week. Her parents have gone away to the Maldives and she's just got the _Fringe_ boxset. She's been begging me for days to have a marathon with her."

The pair lapsed into comfortable silence as they ate, before Kate checked the time on her Dad's old watch and almost scalded her throat as she choked on coffee. "Is that the time? Shit! I'm gonna be late!" Abandoning the meagre remains of her breakfast, Kate jumped up and rushed back to Castle's bedroom, shimmying out of her shorts and pulling her top over her head. She grabbed the first clean pair of jeans she could lay her hands on and the turquoise shirt Castle had apparently hung out for her and once she was dressed, she grabbed her holstered gun from the nightstand and skidded to a stop by the wardrobe once more to fish out a pair of ankle boots. "Keys! I need my keys!" Kate exclaimed as soon as she made it to the front door, mentally slapping herself.

"Have a nice day!" Alexis called, reeling in laughter at watching Detective Beckett flurry around the loft, collecting her keys, purse and badge.

Kate opened the door, poked her head back through and yelled, "Bye! Have fun with Paige!" before dashing down the stairs of Castle's building and into the garage.

When she finally made it up to the fourth floor of the precinct and sat down at her desk, Kate breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yo, Beckett, what happened to you this morning?"

"Yeah, you look a little flustered…"

"Know who else looks like they haven't slept well?" Javi asked, sharing an amused look with Ryan. "Lanie. I just popped down to the morgue, and she does not look well this morning. Know what it is? You've both got those bloodshot eyes. You didn't get drunk last night, did you, Beckett?"

"Yeah, yeah, you've had your fun, now let's just get back to work," Kate replied, rolling her eyes at her partners' razzing. Since she wasn't anywhere close to being in the sixth stage of hangover hell, she would gladly take their teasing. "Where are we with finding Kathleen Everson?"

"Still no sign of her at her apartment," Ryan replied.

"We'll have to keep it under surveillance."

"We're just about to head over to the school and interview her colleagues."

"Okay, let me know what you find out," Kate said, pulling the folder of information on their suspect towards her. Esposito nodded, though this went unseen as Kate was already focused on trying to find an address for Kathleen's parents. Her eyes were trained on the paper, but she still heard the elevator ding half an hour later and someone begin walking across the bullpen.

"Hey Castle," she greeted without looking up.

He placed a tall coffee cup in front of her and demanded, "How did you know it was me?"

She smirked as she replied, "Well who else would it be? Besides, I know how you walk, the smell of your aftershave and you're the only person who ever brings me coffee. Detective, remember?"

"Like I could ever forget. So, are you going to tell me who Reverend Green is?"

"Who?"

Castle could hear just how distracted Kate was, even if he wasn't watching her refuse to look up from the folder lying on her desk.

"Reverend Green? The man, well I assume he's a man, you apparently rang last night after you'd been drinking? I did a little research. Apparently he preaches at Trinity Church. So what did you talk to him about?"

Kate frowned as she tried to remember. Slowly it came back to her. "I think I may have booked our wedding ceremony…" She flicked her eyes up to Castle's face, wincing internally and hoping he wouldn't be mad at her for making such a big decision about their wedding on her own. "My parents got married in Trinity Church."

"Are you sure you want to get married there?"

Hesitantly Kate nodded. "If that's okay with you, of course?" She couldn't help sounding hopeful.

"It sounds perfect to me," he reassured her, taking one of her hands and squeezing tight.

Kate smiled softly, clutching his fingers for a moment before untangling her hand and grabbing her coffee cup instead and standing.

"Are you…going somewhere?"

"Yeah, we've got an address for Kathleen Everson's parents. Come on." She offered him her free hand and tugged him up out of her seat, bumping shoulders with him as they walked hand in hand to the elevator.

* * *

"Gina wants this to be the biggest tour yet. We're hitting Boston, Cleveland, Philadelphia, DC, Columbia, Jacksonville, Miami, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Memphis, Cincinnati, Detroit, Chicago, Madison, Phoenix, Vegas and LA. And all in just three weeks."

Kate listened as they walked up the pathway leading to the house in White Plains purchased by Brian and Suzanne Everson after their retirement, hoping her eyes didn't show sadness at the thought of just how long Castle was going to be gone for. She smiled briefly as she knocked on the front door.

"Maybe no-one's home," Castle suggested when her knock went unanswered.

Kate's eyes flicked to him for a moment before returning to the window into the living room on the right side of the door where the net curtain had been peeled away a few inches and an elderly face peered out. "Somehow I don't think so, Castle." She pulled her badge from her pocket and flashed it in the direction of Brian Everson. A few seconds later the front door swung inwards, a spritely, white haired woman in the hallway.

"Hello?"

"Mrs Everson, I'm Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD and this is Richard Castle. May we come in?"

Suzanne Everson looked uncertain, glancing back down the hallway at her husband, who nodded discreetly.

"What's this about Detective?" Mrs Everson asked as she showed both Kate and Rick into the sitting room.

"I was hoping you might be able to help me with something. I need your daughter's help with a current investigation I'm running."

"Lizzie? What's happened this time?" Brian sighed, straightening up from where he had been leaning forwards against the back of the couch behind his wife.

Before Beckett could answer, her cell rang out. After checking the caller ID, and seeing Rachel's name, she ignored the call and returned her attention to their suspect's parents. "Sorry about that. I was actually referring to your other daughter, Mr Everson. Kathleen. She hasn't been in to work in two days and there's no sign of her at her apartment. Is there anywhere else she might go?" Kate kept her voice level, doing her best to portray concern for the safety of the Eversons' daughter rather than her desire to interview her as a suspect in their murder case.

Both Suzanne and Brian frowned. "I'm sorry; I don't think we can be of much help to you. Kathy doesn't talk about her friends, she's so focused on her work and those kids it's all we ever hear about."

Kate nodded, taking their cue that it was time for she and Castle to leave. "If you do hear from her, I'd be very grateful if you could get in touch. You can contact either me or the 12th Precinct on these numbers," she replied, standing and handing Brian Everson one of her cards as he rose to show them out.

As soon as the front door shut behind them, Castle declared, "They're lying. Nobody can like or talk about tenth grade kids _that_ much."

"I know. Did you notice the cellar doorway underneath the stairs? I'd bet there are quite a few places Kathleen would be able to hide in that house. And the pictures on the mantelpiece? They were nearly all of Kathleen. Her parents would do anything for her."

"Including helping her to evade arrest, it would seem."

"Unfortunately, we need evidence that she could be there in order to get a warrant to search the house," Kate sighed before stopping at her car and pulling out her phone to dial Ryan. "It's Beckett. How's your end of the search going? Yeah, same here. If they have seen her, they're determined to protect her. Alright, we're heading back now. We'll regroup at the precinct, take a look at Kathleen's financials, and see if we can find a link to Westchester County."

As they were driving, Kate's cell rang again. Another call from Rachel that went unanswered because she was too busy driving. When she pulled up outside the precinct, she sent a quick, apologetic text to their planner, explaining that it was a busy day and she'd ring her when she could.

Ryan and Esposito were already seated at their desks in the bullpen when Beckett and Castle walked out the elevator, but Ryan leapt up to meet them with a large stack of paper in one hand.

"Kathleen Everson's financials. The last six months. We can go further back if need be."

"She's a real big spender," Espo commented. "Makes you look frugal, Castle."

Kate took the pile of paper from Ryan and halved it. "We'll split it. Start with the most recent stuff and work backwards." After dividing the papers into four, they all sat down and began reading, searching for any reference to properties, places outside of the city or unusually far away from her apartment and school, and money spent on transportation.

"Got something!" Ryan exclaimed, just over forty five minutes later, highlighting a row on the pages he had been allotted when they split the last six months of Kathleen Everson's financials between the four of them. "Activity on one of Kathleen Everson's credit cards at an ATM late last night by Grand Central Station!" The phone was cradled between his ear and neck as he dialled. Esposito, Castle and Beckett, stood around his desk, waiting. Even Captain Gates opened her office door and peered out into the bullpen. "Uh huh. Got it, thanks."

"Well?"

Ryan gave them all a cocky smirk. "She used cash to buy a one-way ticket to White Plains."

"Requsition CCTV from both stations. We need to make sure she boarded that train," Gates ordered. "Beckett, get on the phone with the Judge.

Ryan and Esposito leapt up, nodding at Beckett already back at her own desk and picking up her phone. "Judge Wilson, please. It's Detective Beckett from the 12th Precinct. I need a search warrant for an address in White Plains, Westchester County."

Castle slumped down into his chair, fiddling with his phone in boredom while waiting for Beckett to finish on the phone. Stuck on his current level of _Angry Birds_ and having encountered a glitch in _Temple Run 2_, he had nothing to occupy his attention. Apparently though, his tossing and catching of his iPhone was annoying. Beckett snatched the phone from the air and held it out of Castle's reach, all whilst still conferring with the Judge over the phone.

"Yeah, we have evidence that places her in Westchester County. Yes, a train ticket from Grand Central Station. We're just looking for CCTV footage now, but there's no guarantee-" While either the Judge or his secretary interrupted her, Kate glanced at Castle and relinquished her hold on his phone.

As soon as she had replaced the receiver on the base, Gates demanded, "Well?"

"No warrant until we can definitively say Kathleen Everson boarded that train and got off in Westchester County."

Gate didn't look happy, but she nodded anyway. "Keep me posted, Beckett."

"Of course." Kate watched Gates return to her office before turning to Castle. "Hey, why don't you go on home and pack? You're leaving tonight and I want to get going the second I get back or we'll be in traffic and you'll miss your flight." She didn't look forward to another airport run so soon after the last one, but she wanted the chance to spend as much time with Castle as possible before he had to leave.

He shook his head. "We're just about to close the case."

"Castle, I can tell you're bored. We've got nothing to do until Ryan and Espo get back with the CCTV."

After a moment's thought, he agreed. "I'll see you at home then."

She nodded, accepting his kiss on the forehead and watching him leave, unable to not smile as he turned to wave at the last minute before getting into the elevator and then kept his eyes trained on hers, right up until the doors closed. Shaking her head and still smiling, Kate abandoned her desk and stopped in the break room. The fridge didn't always have much in it, but Castle usually managed to stock it with something for her. Sure enough, there was a box labelled 'Beckett' on the middle shelf. As soon as she had the box in her hands, Kate could see Castle had left her chocolates, along with a note.

_Miss you already._

_X_

Kate laughed to herself before opening the box and popping a strawberry cream into her mouth. Chocolate melting on her tongue, she sent a quick thank you text to her fiancé before making an attempt at working his cappuccino machine. The trilling of her phone didn't really surprise her. She just carefully set down the bubbling milk with the expectation that Castle would be talking with her for at least ten minutes, probably asking her what he should pack. What _did _surprise her was that when she unlocked her phone, it wasn't Castle's picture staring up at her.

"Beckett," she answered.

"Detective Beckett, I've finally caught you. You're not still busy are you?"

Kate glanced around the breakroom and looked out the window at the almost deserted bullpen. "No, Rachel, now's fine. What can I do for you?"

"I just wondered whether you'd had any more time to talk about things with Rick."

"There's been some progress-"

"-Oh, how wonderful! So tell me all the juicy details." Now that they had established some boundaries with Rachel, Kate couldn't help beginning to like her, even if she was more than a bit excitable at times and had a habit of interrupting.

"We've decided to get married in Trinity Church. I already spoke to Reverend Green."

"You did? How marvellous! I've been negotiating with the Plaza, and they've agreed to waive their regulation regarding the minimum number of guests. Isn't that great?" Before Kate could answer, Rachel was continuing, "Now, how about a colour scheme?"

Kate noticed Ryan and Esposito exit the elevator and gave them a wave. "Could I have a few more days to think about it, Rachel?"

"Of course, I'll have some sample booklets sent over to you, shall I?"

"Sure. I'm going to have to get back to work now, Rachel-"

"-Of course. I won't keep you. Goodbye, Kate."

"Bye," Kate said before hanging up. Before joining Ryan and Esposito, she made a quick detour to Captain Gates' office. "Sir, we've got the CCTV."

Gates nodded, instantly dropping her pen and stepping away from her desk to join her detectives in the bullpen.

"Okay, according to the guys at Grand Central, she bought her ticket at six thirty AM yesterday. The train was leaving from platform 10, but they gave us discs from cameras covering the others just in case the ticket to Westchester was to distract us," Ryan explained, loading the disc from the camera on platform 10 into his computer and fast-forwarding to six-thirty. The Captain and three detectives squinted, scrutinising every person on the platform. "Got her," Ryan said after a few minutes, pausing the video and pointing out Kathleen Everson by her blonde hair with his finger.

"Detective Esposito, hand me that phone," Captain Gates requested, snapping her fingers. Finally tearing her gaze from the computer screen, Gates dialled and began speaking. "We've got your CCTV evidence, Judge Wilson." Beckett, Ryan and Esposito waited patiently while their Captain murmured assents. Finally she returned the phone to Esposito and declared, "We've got our search and arrest warrant. Let's get Kathleen Everson."

* * *

It had to be one of the simplest cases to have come across Kate's desk. She and Castle had been right about their hunch. Kathleen had been hiding in her parents' basement. The second they got her in the interrogation room, she had confessed to killing Jason Robinson.

Before going to pick up Castle, Kate was caught by Gates.

"Well done, Detective. I trust you'll pass my thanks on to Mr Castle for his help with this investigation and wish him a good trip."

Kate nodded and called a goodbye to the boys. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Say goodbye to Castle for us," Ryan hollered back.

"Sure," she promised, giving her desk one last check to make sure she wasn't leaving anything behind. Before she knew it, Kate was opening the door to the loft and yelling, "Castle, I'm just getting a bag of stuff together. When I'm done you'd better be ready!" He came prancing down the stairs; a holdall slung over one shoulder.

"I'm here, and I'm packed and ready," he replied, catching his suitcase by the handle on the way past as he followed Kate into his bedroom and pressed a kiss to her nose before she grabbed one of her larger handbags and began pushing some of the more important stuff that had migrated from her apartment to Rick's into it. "What's with the bag?"

"I'm just packing some stuff I'm going to need to go back to my place," she answered from the bathroom where she was collecting her toothbrush.

"You're not staying here?"

"Castle, the place is going to be empty for a week. I'll come back when Alexis is back, but it's too big for me to be here by myself. Plus, it's been so long since I've been in my own apartment, I've probably got a tonne of mail to sort through and a ridiculous amount of cleaning to do."

He looked like he still want to argue, but wisely kept his mouth shut whilst Kate grabbed a few last things before zipping the bag shut and pulling it over her shoulder.

"Come on then. Gina will have your head if you're late meeting her at the airport." As she shut and locked the front door behind him, not even bothering to leave her badge and gun in the loft, she felt his gaze on her and looked sidelong at him. "What were you doing upstairs anyway?"

"Nothing…"

"Oh come on, Castle, you really expect me to believe that?"

Not only was the elevator ride down to the garage filled with their bickering banter, but so was the journey to the airport. When Kate finally cut the engine, the mood in the car had turned somewhat sombre. She carried his holdall as they entered the airport and he checked in his suitcase.

Standing in the middle of the terminal building, she handed him the holdall. "You've got everything right? Your phone charger?"

"Yeah, Kate, I've got everything. I'll call you when I land." He slid a hand down her arm and twisted his fingers through hers. "I'll keep you posted." He smoothed his thumb across the back of her hand, the gesture so natural that he didn't even need to look whilst he was doing it. Instead, he stared so deep into Kate's eyes that she was convinced he was looking into her soul. And she knew how clichéd that sounded. "And I promise to tell you all about the crazy fans, even though none of them are as big a mega-fan as you are," he finished, doing his best to bring a smile to her face. He chuckled when he was rewarded with a smile so bright it made his chest ache. Dropping his forehead onto hers, he whispered, "I'm going to miss you."

"I'm gonna miss you too."

"Don't solve too many murders without me."

"Don't get arrested where I can't break you out," she countered, knowing that Gina always arranged a few publicity parties during Castle's book tours, and they didn't always end well.

"Well, you know me, can't promise there won't be any mishaps with police horses."

Kate rolled her eyes, his stupid joke breaking the melancholy atmosphere. Grabbing the front of his tan jacket, she pushed herself onto her toes and pressed her lips to his. Castle's response was instantaneous, his tongue pushing through her lips to tangle with hers. The leather holdall dropped from his hand before his arms swept around her, one hand rushing underneath her blazer and kneading her waist through the material of her shirt as the other moved up her spine, leaving a trail of fire in its wake until his fingers were buried in the curls of glorious hair hanging around her neck.

They broke apart breathless as someone beside them cleared their throat.

"Gina, hi." Kate was panting. She knew her cheeks were flushed. And she was just beginning to realise that probably half the people at the check in gates had stopped what they were doing to watch her and Castle.

"I'll give you two another minute," Gina finally said, when it was clear Rick was still too distracted to greet her.

Kate laughed nervously, glancing between Rick and Gina's retreating figure. If she didn't say goodbye now, she knew she never would.

"I'll see you in three weeks, Castle."

His hand had moved again, now caressing one of her cheeks. He really wasn't helping things.

"It'll fly by and you'll be back in New York in no time."

"You'll barely have any time to miss me," he replied, finally speaking, though his voice was much softer than usual.

"And you'll have a great time."

He nodded, putting on a smile for her before quickly pressing his lips against hers once, twice and then again because he just couldn't get enough of her. "I love you."

"I love you," she breathed, pushing the words into his mouth. "Have fun, Rick."

Before he could pull her back, she moved out of his arms and waved goodbye. He watched her, waving back whilst Gina stood at his side again. "Let's get to the departure lounge," she suggested, steering Rick out of Kate's sight. With Rick finally gone, Kate forced her muscles to turn her around and begin her journey back to her apartment.

* * *

**A/N: I really hope you guys enjoyed this one. I'd really appreciate hearing your thoughts on it. Also, have any of you seen the season 6 promo pictures?! The one of Beckett and Castle is so cute! I can't stop looking at it. Only 2 weeks to go now!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thanks go to jellybean96, htbuzz and hfce for reviewing! Apologies for the shorter length this time – just ran out of time. I'll try and make the next one longer. **

* * *

The precinct felt empty. Of course, it wasn't actually devoid of people. Not only were Esposito and Ryan sat at their desks behind stacks of paperwork that they were supposed to be filing rather than challenging each other on who could toss the most paper balls into their bins, Gates was in her office arguing loudly with the commissioner over their budget and Karpowski was briefing her own team of detectives around her murder board. Not for the first time, Beckett sighed, missing her partner and cursing herself for turning into such a sap. Honestly, it had only been a week. She'd managed years on the job without him before he came along.

Sneaking a glance at Gates, ensuring she was still occupied by her phone call, Beckett set her pen down and took hold of her computer's mouse, her first touch deactivating the screensaver. She took a second furtive look over her shoulder as she typed in the web address for Castle's twitter account. He was an active user of the social media outlet anyway, but when he was publicising a book and on tour, he went into overdrive. She knew he was in Miami, having flown on from Columbia the previous day. How he still had the energy to keep his eyes open through book signings after so much seemingly nonstop travelling was beyond Kate.

Scrolling through his recent tweets, many of which were replies to fans who had attended his signings, Kate didn't hear Victoria Gates slam down the phone in her office and wrench the door open. She didn't hear the kerfuffle behind her as Esposito and Ryan hurried to clear their desks of crumpled sheets of paper and drew their paperwork to them.

"Detective Beckett!"

Kate startled, spinning her chair around to find her Captain stood behind her with her hands on her hips and her eyes flashing sternly.

"Sir?"

"Perhaps you could forget about Mr Castle's internet escapades until you're on your own time and get back to a real detective's work."

"Of course," she replied, closing the window and picking up her pen, grateful that apparently that was as severe as Gates was going to be. However, she could still feel Gates' presence behind her. "Is there something you need, Captain?"

"I need that file on the Potts murder."

Kate drew the pile of completed files towards her and flipped through until she found the pieces of paper Gates had requested. Once the file was in her hand, Gates nodded at her detectives and returned to her office, immediately picking up the phone again.

"You could have told me she was there," Beckett said, giving Esposito a reproachful look in response to his satisfied grin.

"And miss the look on your face when she caught you, chica?"

Beckett rolled her eyes as Ryan and Espo fed the birds. "I'm gonna get a coffee."

"I'll come with you," Ryan replied, standing and joining her.

"Espo, you want anything?"

"Some of that Javan roast Castle brought in the other week, thanks."

Beckett nodded and entered the break room with Ryan, grabbing her blue mug, Espo's NYPD one and Ryan's 'Luck of the Irish' mug (a secret Santa gift from Karpowski two years ago) from one of the cupboards. "You want Javan roast too?" she asked Ryan.

"No thanks. I promised Jenny that since she can't drink coffee, I wouldn't either. Instead, I've got this raspberry herbal tea." He pulled a cardboard box filled with tea bags, labelled with his name, from the same cupboard Kate had retrieved their mugs. While Ryan brewed his tea, Kate fixed herself and Esposito coffees, adding just the right amount of milk for both of them.

When she handed the mug back to Esposito, burning the tips of her fingers holding it out to him handle first, he took a cautious sip before declaring, "Damn, Beckett, with coffee this good you and Castle should go in to business together. I don't know whose is better."

"Don't let Castle hear you say that," she muttered. "We'll never hear the end of it." Nearing her desk, she shot a look at her cell phone sitting atop her paperwork. "I haven't missed any calls, have I?"

Espo shook his head. "Why? You expecting someone to call? Because I've gotta say, Castle has been seriously lax about keeping in contact."

Kate rolled her eyes and smothered a laugh. "I thought I was going to be Castle's wife; not you." Esposito gave her a look, clearly not amused. "No, just wondering whether Rachel had tried to get in contact." When her phone rang, she practically dived on it. "Beckett."

"Now that is just creepy. Almost like she's psychic," Esposito said, sharing a look with his partner.

"Castle would have loved that."

Oblivious to their muttering, Beckett sighed, "Oh Lanie, it's you."

"What do you mean 'Lanie, it's you', sounding all disappointed? Get your skinny ass down here now, girl."

Kate stared at the phone after Lanie had hung up.

"I wouldn't keep Lanie waiting if I were you," Esposito commented. "She is _not_ in a patient mood today."

"Oh, when did you see her?" Kate asked, turning to face him and smirking at his flabbergasted appearance, well aware that with no open case Esposito would have had no reason to visit the morgue other than because he had sought out their Medical Examiner.

"I-I haven't seen her today actually; she's just always in a bad mood these days. Must be all those early morning crime scenes."

"I'll be sure to tell her," Kate replied, enjoying the play of shock across Esposito's face.

"You wouldn't."

She shrugged. "Guess you'll have to see her to find out." She took one last sip of her coffee before returning to the breakroom and sighing sadly as she had to pour what was left – a regrettably large quantity of coffee – down the sink. "Cover for me if Gates asks where I am," she requested, not waiting for answer as she left the bullpen.

* * *

"Alright, what's so urgent, Lanie?"

"I found it!" Lanie exclaimed, gleefully clapping her hands.

"Found what?"

"_The _dress! I found your dress! Look, isn't it perfect?"

Kate had to admit, the dress in the magazine Lanie was brandishing at her was faultless, exactly the kind of thing she was looking for.

"It's a Justin Alexander. Don't you just think the balance between satin and lace is flawless?"

"Lanie, how did you find this?" Kate breathed.

"More magazines than it's possible to count," Lanie answered nonchalantly. "You think Paula and the planner from hell will let you get it?"

"Lanie," Kate reproached. "I told you that Paula was following Black Pawn's CEO's orders-"

"-She could have said no!"

"And aside from promising to send me samples that never arrived, Rachel has been fine," Kate finished. "Actually, you know what, I've waited a week for those samples and I haven't heard anything from her since, I'm just gonna call her."

Lanie looked on as Kate spoke into her cell phone.

"Hey Rachel, it's Kate again, Kate Beckett. Just give me a ring when you get this message." Hanging up, she met Lanie's gaze. "That's the fourth time this week I've gotten her voicemail. I thought wedding planners were supposed to make things less stressful, not more."

"Good job you're not relying on her to plan your bachelorette then, huh?" Lanie grinned. "You might have ended up without a stripper-"

"-Lanie, I thought we agreed on something more reserved. Martha and Alexis are going to be there too."

"Have you even asked Alexis to be one of your bridesmaids yet?"

"Not yet. Castle doesn't even know I'm planning on it," she admitted.

"You think she's going to say no, don't you?" Lanie guessed.

Kate shrugged.

"You won't know until you ask."

"I know, I know. I figure I should probably wait till Castle's back anyway. I don't want to make too many decisions without him."

* * *

**A/N: So yeah, that's all I had time to write. I hope you enjoyed it despite the shorter length. Let me know what you think!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: So, longer chapter this time around. Hopefully, you'll enjoy it, I just have to quickly fess up to something now. There's a lot of stuff in this chapter about the structure of the NYPD that being a British person who's never even been anywhere in America, I had no idea about so I had to research it. If it's wrong, I'm sorry but blame Wikipedia (or me for using Wikipedia – that's cool too since I should know better.)**

* * *

"Something smells heavenly," Kate called as she entered the loft, sniffing appreciatively and stopping in the kitchen to glance into the open pan sitting on the stove.

"I'm making puttanesca sauce," Alexis replied, appearing from behind the open fridge door with a jar of olives.

"Sounds great. I'll be right back!" After getting rid of her gun and holster, Kate stripped from her work clothes, grabbing a pair of cotton three-quarter length sweat pants and one of Castle's t-shirts to wear instead. She was still twisting her hair up into a messy bun as she walked back out into Rick's open plan kitchen-diner-living-room. "Want a hand?"

"Actually, if you could help me find the lid for this saucepan, that would be really helpful. Dad must have rearranged stuff whilst I've been gone."

Kate nodded and pulled open the bottom cupboard furthest from where Alexis was standing, wondering whether she should mention the fact that she was the one who had rearranged Castle's kitchen after getting fed up with finding numerous open bottles of ice cream sauces in the most ridiculous places. In the corner of the cupboard a number of saucepan lids were stacked, though Kate only grabbed the second largest one and handed it to Alexis.

"Thanks. So how was work?"

"Slow, we had nothing but paperwork. You want me to cut up those capers?"

"That's okay, I've got it."

From inside the bedroom she shared with Rick, the muffled tones of her cell phone rang. "I should get that. It's probably the wedding planner." Only as Kate stopped in the doorway, the ringtone ended and without the noise, she was unable to track it down. She was on her hands and knees, checking under the bed when the house phone began to ring.

"Hello?" Alexis answered just as Kate skidded to a stop beside her. "It's Dad," she told Kate, crossing back into the kitchen and dunking the tomato covered wooden spoon she had been holding back into the sauce. "Yeah, Kate's here. Dad wants you to pick up the other phone, Kate."

Kate grabbed the second handset sitting on the coffee table in the living room.

"Hey Castle, how's the tour going?"

"It's going great. I'm at the airport, just waiting to board the plane to Atlanta." In the background, Kate and Alexis heard someone speaking and then Castle replying testily, "It'll only take a minute, Gina. Just let everyone else board before us."

"Is everything okay, Castle?"

"Yeah, everything's fine. They've just started boarding the plane that's all, so I'm gonna have to go soon. Why didn't you pick up your cell?"

"I didn't quite get there in time, and then I couldn't find it."

"Did you check your trouser pockets?"

"Give me one second," Kate told him, getting up off the couch and walking back into the bedroom.

"Well?"

"Hold on," Kate snapped, "I haven't even gotten the lid off the hamper yet." She cradled the phone between her shoulder and her ear so she could use both her hands to take the lid off of Castle's wicker laundry hamper and pull out the now-wrinkled trousers she had worn to work. Just from the weight of them in her hands, she could tell her phone was still in the pocket. "Got it," she told Castle, as she replaced the lid one-handed, balancing it on the rim of the hamper because that was all the dexterity she could manage with her left hand.

"Okay, well I'm going to have to go. Gina's pestering me to board now. I'll call you again tomorrow."

"Okay, speak to you tomorrow. I love you."

"I love you too," Castle replied. "You too, Sweetie," he added, talking to Alexis.

"Bye, Dad." Alexis had already replaced the phone into the base on the island in the middle of the kitchen when Kate put her handset back on the coffee table. "It won't be much longer," she commented into the silence between them. "I'm just waiting for the capers to be done."

Kate nodded and pulled two plates out of one of the cupboards for them both. She almost got two glasses out when getting a wine glass for herself, the action so habitual. She and Castle almost always shared a bottle of wine at the end of a long day. She hovered in front of the open cupboard a moment longer. "You want anything to drink?"

"I'll just have a soda," Alexis answered, abandoning stirring her sauce and spaghetti for a moment to grab a can from the fridge before passing it to Kate who poured it into a glass for her and set it beside one of the plates.

"This looks great, Alexis," Kate complimented as Alexis set the dish of Spaghetti alla Puttanesca on the table with spoon-ended tongs for serving the pasta.

"Thanks. Hopefully it tastes as good."

Whilst serving herself, Kate asked, "How was your week at Paige's?"

"It was good. You can never get bored of fringe science. Staring at Joshua Jackson's face all day every day is just an added bonus."

Kate chuckled, remembering what it was like to be a teenager and obsess over guys. She distinctly remembered having an embarrassingly large crush on the boys of _Hanson_ for a while before moving on to punk and rock bands in her rebellious years.

"Lanie was asking after you today."

"Yeah?"

"She wants her first and only intern back."

Alexis laughed. "You mean she misses being able to gossip with me about you and Dad and how long it was going to take the two of you to get your act together."

Kate's fork stopped and hovered in front of her face. "You didn't actually talk about us, did you?"

Alexis stared back at Kate.

"You're right. It's _Lanie, _of course that's what you talked about." Rolling her eyes, Kate moved her formerly motionless fork and ate the spaghetti.

"Well, we talked about other stuff too. You know, college, cases, Ashley…" Alexis shrugged. "Oh, before I forget, a letter was forwarded from your apartment today." She hopped up for a moment and grabbed the envelope from the wicker tray sitting on the wooden sideboard by the door.

"Thanks," Kate said as she set her fork down and took the envelope addressed to her, tearing it open. She frowned as she read the letter inside.

"Is something wrong?"

"Captain Gates has recommended me for a promotion. Sergeant."

"Kate, congratulations! That's great!" Alexis exclaimed, then noticing that Kate didn't look particularly pleased by the news. "Isn't it?"

"I wouldn't be solving cases anymore," Kate explained, glancing away from the letter. "Just sitting in the precinct all day, doing paperwork and management stuff."

"So what are you going to do? Are you going to take it."

"I don't know," Kate admitted. Whilst party of her knew she would miss solving cases, helping people, bringing closure to relatives of the victims she was assigned, she also couldn't completely smother the spark of pride within her. "I'll Speak with Captain Gates tomorrow morning, I guess. Call your Dad, get his opinion, and then think about it for a few days before I make a decision."

* * *

"We were just about to call you," Javi said as Beckett stepped off the elevator and walked straight into Esposito and Ryan.

"Body drop?" The pair of detectives nodded. "I'll meet you there. I just need a quick word with Gates."

Kate left her messenger bag at her desk before crossing to Captain Gate's office and knocking.

"Come in!" Gates called from inside, looking up and asking, "Detective Beckett, haven't you got a case to be working?" as soon as Beckett entered.

"Sir." Beckett paused, staring at her Captain looking what could only be described as flustered, as she sifted through file after file, glancing every now and then at her computer screen and the clock on the wall.

"What is it Beckett?" Gates barked, her patience running thin.

"That promotion you recommended me for-"

"-Yeah, what about it?"

"Why'd you recommend me?"

Gates' hands stopped moving files and she sighed. "Take a seat, Beckett," she said, nodding at the chair on the other side of her desk. While Kate sat down, Victoria Gates removed her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Is- Is everything okay, Sir?" Beckett asked hesitantly, wondering whether the Captain would take well to her prying.

"I've just got the commissioner on my ass, demanding the latest stats on our arrests, and the first floor has screwed up their filing." Walking around the desk, Captain Gates stopped just beside her best detective and perched just behind her computer. After a moment she spoke again. "I recommended you for the opening, Beckett, because I see in you what I saw in myself twenty years ago."

"Sir?"

"Twenty years ago, I was where you were. I'd been a Detective right here in New York for almost fifteen years, and I'd never even considered going the administrative route until my husband proposed. Before I knew it, I'd said yes and I was having to choose between my job and starting a family when the offer came to work as an Investigative Supervisor in Internal Affairs. You're getting married, Beckett, I thought maybe you should put some thought into your options and your future."

"I appreciate it, Captain, but I've got a few more years Detective in me yet."

* * *

"What have we got?" Beckett asked as she joined Esposito and Ryan at the crime scene.

"Unidentified vic. Cleaner, one Jose Gomez called it in just after six o'clock this morning after finding the body when he came in to clean the apartment."

"The building has a male cleaner? Really?" Ryan asked.

Esposito shrugged. "Dude, rich people live here, what d'you expect?"

Beckett rolled her eyes at their antics. "Anything else?"

"Yeah, doorman says he escorted someone out of the building around that time this morning."

"Anything more precise? A description?"

"No precise time yet. I've got uniforms canvassing to see if anyone else saw anything. Our only description so far is of a male between five seven and six feet, wearing a black hoody. No age, no facial description. Not a lot to go on."

Beckett nodded. "Any clues on the vic's identity yet?" she asked, stepping past Esposito to get a look at the body and speak with Lanie about the cause and time of death. She froze, staring at the body in shock.

"Apartment's listed as belonging to Terry Winters," Ryan answered, checking the name on a note in his hand, not noticing that Beckett hadn't even heard him.

"Yo, Beckett, are you okay?"

"That's Rachel," she said, clearly shaken.

"Your wedding planner?"

"Didn't I tell you I'd seen her somewhere?" Espo demanded, backhanding Ryan's arm.

"Lanie?" Kate asked, crouching near her dead wedding planner's head.

Lanie looked at her sympathetically as she answered, "There's a fatal stab wound here." She pointed with her pen, though it was obvious enough from the pool of blood on Rachel Winters' blue dress. "It looks like a standard knife though it probably punctured her lung, but she didn't go down without a fight. See these bruises here on her arms, they're-"

"-from blocking attacks." Kate nodded, recognising the bruises after having numerous collections of her own after spar sessions.

"Right. From the colouring of them, I'd say she's been dead at least a day. You know as well as I do, that when there are obvious signs of struggle like these there's a good chance of there being DNA under her fingernails. But it's going to be a few hours before I know for certain."

Beckett forced herself upright. "Ryan, get on to her assistant, see if he knows about any problems Rachel was having-"

"-Beckett, what are you doing? You know you can't investigate this-"

"-Javi-"

"No, you know Gates won't allow it," Esposito argued. "Let us handle it."

* * *

Beckett sat behind her desk, watching Esposito and Ryan start the murder board, feeling completely useless. Behind her eyes burned the image of Rachel's lifeless body, making guilt rise in her throat like bile.

"Beckett, a word," Gates commanded, standing in her office doorway.

Kate sighed and stood, following her Captain into her office for the second time that day.

"I understand the victim is your wedding planner?"

"Yes, sir," Beckett answered, standing in an approximation of the at ease position between the door and the desk.

Gates surveyed her best detective for a moment. "You know you'll have to be interviewed-"

As she expected, Detective Beckett didn't react well to the news. "-Sir, I had nothing to do with this! I don't understand why I can't just investigate the damn case. I worked my mother's case; I can work this one-"

"-Detective Beckett, you know damn well why you can't work this case. You may not be a suspect, but you're a person of interest given that Rachel Winters was currently planning _your _wedding. And you may have worked your mother's case, as well as your own shooting, but you weren't objective. I need detectives who are able to be objective working this. Ryan will interview you and then I want you out of this precinct."

Beckett bit the insides of her cheeks to stop a retort. She nodded once and spun on her heel to leave. As her hand landed on the door handle, Captain Gates called her back.

"Oh, and Detective Beckett, I think it's time Mr Castle returned to New York City. He'll need to be interviewed too."

Esposito and Ryan looked up as Gates' office door slammed shut, the blinds covering the window shaking while Beckett stood in front of them breathing heavily, looking madder than they'd ever seen her.

"Beckett, you okay?"

She shook her head at Esposito's question. Behind her Gate's door opened again. If Captain Gates was surprised to see Beckett still standing there, her lips set into a grim line, it didn't show. Completely unfazed, she met Ryan's questioning look and said, "Ryan, you'll interview Detective Beckett."

"Er-"

"-Now, Detective Ryan," Gates interrupted, giving both Esposito and Ryan a stern look before going back inside the office and shutting the door.

"Are you okay to do this now, Beckett?" Ryan asked, watching Kate.

"I need to call Castle," was Kate's only answer as she finally moved away from the door and out to a corridor where the entire bullpen wouldn't be watching and listening in on her conversation. Whilst the phone rang seemingly on and on for minutes, she chewed her bottom lip, wondering how on earth she was supposed to tell him that his book tour was over and he had to come home so he could be asked whether he had anything to do with their wedding planner's death – a notion that was completely ridiculous anyway since he'd been out of the state for over a week. Finally, he answered, "Your ruggedly handsome writer speaking."

"Castle-"

Just from the slight rasp in her voice, he knew something was wrong and was butting in to the conversation. "Kate? What is it? Is it Alexis? Has something happened?"

"It-it's not Alexis, she's fine. Rachel, she's- Rachel's been murdered, Castle. You have to come home-"

"-I'll be on the first flight back, Kate," he promised.

In the background, Kate heard Gina bristling. "Richard Castle, you are not going anywhere. You agreed to a three week book tour-"

"Gina, our wedding planner's been murdered. You really think Paula's not gonna call me back to New York to run damage control? The tour's over whether you like it or not," he huffed, trying to keep his voice down and out of earshot of the fans still hanging around the bookstore, even though his signing was coming to an end and there was no reading of _Deadly Heat _scheduled.

"Gina's not happy, huh?" Her voice came out a whisper and she cursed herself for it. But she just couldn't help the guilt, the shame over what she had said to Lanie the previous day.

_That's the fourth time this week I've got her voicemail. I thought wedding planners were supposed to make things less stressful, not more… God, I might as well do it all myself anyway, all the help that Rachel's been. At this rate there won't be a wedding and Castle'll just be about fifty thousand dollars poorer, after paying for the venue we didn't want and the world's most expensive yet useless wedding planner._

"I feel awful, Castle. I was annoyed with her. I kept trying to get in contact with her but she wasn't picking up her phone. I was annoyed and the whole time she was probably already lying dead on her father's apartment floor."

"Don't do this to yourself, Kate, you didn't know," Castle murmured.

* * *

"No, I hadn't spoken to Rachel for a few days," Kate sighed. "The last I heard from her was Thursday, when she said she would send some colour sample sheets round to me, only they never arrived."

Ryan nodded, making a note of the date Kate had mentioned in his notebook.

"Okay, you mentioned her assistant earlier, do you have a name for him?"

"Henry something, I don't know his last name," Kate apologised, shaking her head and shrugging. "I have her business card somewhere, so I can give you her office number – you can probably get in contact with Rachel's assistant there."

"Do you know if she currently had any other clients?"

"Ryan, I have no idea. We didn't talk about it; the only thing we did talk about was my wedding. I barely knew Rachel, we only met just over a week ago."

"In that case that's probably everything then." Ryan stood up from the plush couch he had been sat in and returned to his desk to update Esposito, leaving Beckett to gather her remaining things and leave. Driving home, she tried not to dwell on the day, but her dark thoughts were only really pushed aside when Castle called.

She swiped her finger across the surface of her iPhone where it was locked onto the dashboard in a handsfree dock, diverting her attention from the road just for the slightest moment. "Hey," she greeted.

"You are not going to believe the barney Gina just had with Paula over the phone!"

"Barney?"

"British slang, means argument."

"Funnily enough, I knew that. This is your widely travelled fiancée you're speaking to," Kate deadpanned.

"You've been to England?"

"Uh huh."

"You do realise these are the kind of things you should tell me, right?"

Kate rolled her eyes as she said, "Castle, I was sixteen. My parents took me on holiday, okay?"

"Maybe Nikki and Rook could go to England…" He trailed off as his mind obviously got lost in the middle of a possible Heat storyline. "New York's finest and Scotland Yard… Oh yeah, that would work."

"Castle, focus! Why don't you get back to this so-called barmy Paula and Gina were having." It wasn't a question, and Castle knew as much. Still, she could hear Castle grinning down the phone as he made an enthusiastic reply.

"You wouldn't believe it; this was a cat fight if I ever saw one – wait, heard one? Anyway, so we're at the airport, and they've been 'discussing' the situation ever since we got in the limo outside the bookstore. And Gina's on the phone all the way through check in, refusing to hang up as we go through security – and she now owes me five hundred dollars of bribe money, I might add – and she's been trying to convince Paula for forty five minutes that she can work damage control on her own and it'll look better for me to continue the tour when Paula just snaps. I swear, even security could hear Paula screeching at Gina down the phone, telling her that she's already had the police on the phone and that they have to interview me!"

"Castle…you're not saying all this in front of Gina are you?"

"No, she's gone to the bar. Said she needed a stiff drink – hardly surprising given that ear-lashing. Even my arguments with Gina were never _that_ bad. And then Gina yells back, telling Paula she's being an idiot, that I'm marrying the NYPD and that as a valued member of the homicide team, I could be interviewed over the phone-"

"-I'm sure Captain Gates would disagree," Kate muttered.

"Hey, she likes me," Castle complained. He knew Kate would have her eyebrows raised in doubt and added, "more than before."

"Yeah, in your dreams, Castle. She still thinks you're an ass."

"Now that's just plain wrong. I don't, and nor do I want to I might add, dream about Iron Gates. The only person I dream about is you, Detective Beckett. Oh and the Yeti sometimes."

"Why, is the Yeti still angry with you for eating all the ice cream?"

Kate struggled not to snort as she kept her laughter silent. It wasn't like Castle couldn't tell anyway. "Oh yeah, real funny, Kate. Laugh away, you won't be laughing when he comes back."

"Castle, how many times are we going to have this conversation? For the last time, the Yeti does not exist. Just like Bigfoot doesn't exist, and ghosts and spirits and werewolves and vampires don't exist."

"One day you will see the error of your disbelieving ways, Katherine Beckett, and you will be begging me for forgiveness-"

"-Begging, really? Somehow I just don't see it, Castle."

"I've made you beg for things before," he pointed out suggestively. Kate could picture his smirk and his waggling eyebrows. "I'm sure I can again."

"You're sure you're not being over-confident there, Castle?"

"Oh, you _know _I'm not, Detective."

In the background, Kate heard an electronic voice announce, "Flight 178 to New York JFK airport is now boarding."

"That's me, Kate. I've got to go but I'll be back later this evening. I love you!"

"Bye, I love you too."

Kate let Castle hang up and disconnect the line so she didn't have to touch her phone, concentrating instead on driving the remainder of the way back to Castle's loft. After parking her car in his building's garage and getting the elevator up to the top floor, she suddenly felt tired.

At the sound of the front door unlocking, Alexis craned her head round and watched Kate enter the loft looking drained. "You're home early." It wasn't even five o'clock and in all the years Alexis had known Kate, she had never left work before half past.

"Yeah, Gates sent me home," Kate replied, dropping her leather shoulder bag and collapsing in the seat beside Alexis in front of the TV.

"Why?"

Kate was hesitant as she answered. "We caught a body this morning, a woman I ended up identifying as it was our wedding planner, so Gates took me off the case and sent me home."

"Oh my God," Alexis murmured. "What happened?"

Kate shrugged. "Hopefully Espo and Ryan will be able to figure that out. Your dad's on his way home."

Alexis studied the drawn lines of Kate's face for a moment, noticing the tension around her eyes and the tight set of her frown. "You wanna watch _How I Met Your Mother_ or something?" she finally asked, guessing that Kate could do with something light-hearted to take her mind off of her awful day. "The groceries just got delivered so we've got a whole bag of that paprika popcorn you like?"

"Sounds great, Alexis. I'm just gonna go shower and change."

Alexis nodded and stood up at the same time Kate heaved herself off the couch, heading into the kitchen to cook the popcorn in the microwave and empty the bag into their largest glass bowl. After doing that, she dug out two spoons and an unopened pint of Kate's favourite flavour of _Ben and Jerry's, _Peanut Buttercup, then looked through her dad's wine collection before picking a bottle of red she thought Kate would maybe like.

Kate stood under the showerhead, hoping the water would remove the sickening feeling lurking under her skin. She could still picture clearly Rachel's pale, lifeless body, such a contrast from her usual vivacious appearance with the brown stain of dried blood on her chest and the ends of her hair hanging over her shoulder, blooming bruises marring her normally tanned arms and face. Opening her eyes and banishing the images, Kate sighed and resolved herself to the fact that the memory would be bothering her until Esposito and Ryan caught the killer.

When she left Castle's bedroom, her hair freshly braided to one side, hanging down the front of her left shoulder, she smiled brightly at Alexis, thanking her for waiting so long.

"No problem," the redhead replied, shrugging and assuring Kate it was no effort. "Ice cream?" She offered Kate a green, plastic-handled spoon and held the tub of Peanut Buttercup up for her to see.

"Like I could say no," Kate said, glad that forcing a cheery face for Alexis stopped her from thinking back on how she could have done more to try to get in contact with Rachel, how she could have maybe stopped her murder by just visiting her at the office or something.

"I also got out a bottle of wine."

"I think a soda will be fine tonight, Alexis, but thanks." Kate wandered into the kitchen and placed the bottle of wine in the fridge in case she changed her mind and grabbed cans of diet _Coke _and lemonade for Alexis and herself whilst she was there.

Together they sat, eating ice cream straight from the tub until there was none left.

"Oops," Alexis murmured, after looking down to see why her spoon had come out of the tub devoid of ice cream.

"Don't worry about it. We'll just tell your dad it was the Yeti's revenge."

Alexis couldn't stop laughing at that. "I can't believe he still doesn't know that we've been making all of this Yeti stuff up," she gasped, the sentence taking a full minute to be complete because of her giggles.

Kate grinned, taking her eyes off of the TV for a minute. Holding up the bowl of popcorn, she asked, "You think we can convince him that the Yeti's developed a taste for this too?"

"Well, he is pretty gullible sometimes," Alexis shrugged, grabbing a handful of spiced popcorn.

* * *

Castle entered the loft, finding it silent despite the fact that it had only just gone seven o'clock. It seemed odd, given that he'd texted both Kate and Alexis about forty minutes previously to let them know his plane had landed and he would be home soon and both of them had replied. Shrugging, he dragged his suitcase in behind him and shut the door before moving off in search of his family, finding a few pieces of popcorn left in a bowl on the coffee table and the television remotes sat beside it rather than in the holder he had.

"Alexis? Kate?"

His calls went unanswered. Frowning, he dragged his suitcase into his study and left it by the desk as he continued into the bedroom, looking for Kate. Not finding her, he went upstairs in search of Alexis, checking her bedroom and the spare rooms.

"Where are they?" he muttered to himself as he came down the stairs again, only to jump out of his skin when both Alexis and Kate leapt out at him from behind the couch. "Give a man a heart attack, why don't you?"

"Hi, dad," Alexis laughed, skipping over to hug him.

"Hey Pumpkin." He kissed the top of her head before releasing her from his arms and pulling Kate into them instead. "You okay?" The question was murmured into her ear so Alexis couldn't hear, but he knew it was a pointless question after her initial smile at his appearance faded. "Alexis, why don't you call your Gram, let her know I'm back," he suggested.

"Sure." Alexis was smart enough to know that her dad and Kate needed a moment alone. She took the phone from the coffee table up to her room, leaving Kate and Rick standing by the couch.

"Talk to me, Kate," Castle requested as soon as Alexis was out of earshot.

Kate just shook her head, not wanting to visualise Rachel's corpse again, and pulled out of Castle's arms, walking away through the study to the bedroom to sit on the bed. She didn't have to look to know Castle would follow her, but it wasn't until his fingers tangled with hers on her lap that she realised he hadn't stopped in the doorway and stared at her; but sat down beside her. Wrapped in her thoughts, she barely felt the pressure of his shoulder leaning against hers.

He tried not to let his annoyance flare at her refusal to let him in but they were engaged, and he couldn't help feeling like she should let him share her burden since she had promised to stop not talking to him. He didn't care how long it took, he would wait her out.

Finally, she tore her gaze from their interlocked hands and up to his eyes.

"What are we gonna do, Castle?"

"About what?"

"Everything," she whispered, her voice so broken Castle knew how serious the situation was. Usually, Kate Beckett wouldn't let anyone hear her sounding so vulnerable. Even Castle had only heard that tone of voice a few times.

"We'll get through it," he promised. "Esposito and Ryan, they're good detectives – not as good as you, I'll admit," he said, hoping to draw a laugh or at least a smile out of Kate. "But they'll solve this."

"And what about our wedding?" Kate hated herself in that moment, for thinking about what was to come of their wedding when she should have been focused on the tragedy of a life lost.

"We'll plan it ourselves, like we wanted to in the first place. No more interference, and it'll be the best wedding the world has ever known, you'll see. I won't let what happened to Rachel ruin it." Kate tried to interrupt, but he placed a gentle finger over her lips and continued, "It's sad, Kate, but you know that Rachel wouldn't want us to put the wedding on hold. She'd want us to carry on."

"You really think we can plan this wedding?"

"I know we can."

* * *

**A/N: I didn't really like where the ending of this chapter went, but hopefully you guys do and fingers crossed nothing in the chapter is majorly incorrect. I need to quickly thank jellybean96, hfce and htbuzz for reviewing! It means so much that you guys let me know what you think and aren't afraid to point out mistakes and how the story could be made better. So thank you! Double thanks go to htbuzz, who has been helping me out with some Americanisms so that the story is more authentic.**

**A few chapters ago, someone requested some more Jim Beckett scenes, so please look forward to the next chapter because he will be making at least one appearance. **

**Thank you for reading! Any thoughts on the chapter are appreciated, be they good or bad, so leave a review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Thank yous go to htbuzz, hfce, jellybean96, saved240307 and the two anonymous reviewers. **

* * *

Kate hummed at the sensation of Castle's fingers trailing along her spine underneath her baggy t-shirt before skating away to strum over her ribs, borrowing her face deeper into the pillow to get away from the bright sunlight streaming through the rain-covered windows and painting the insides of her eyelids orange. Castle's head was a heavy weight at her bare shoulder, his chin digging into the point of her shoulder blade before he pressed feather-light kisses against her skin making her toes curl and warmth radiate through her limbs, waking her up quicker than any alarm ever could. She could feel one of his legs still tangled with hers, trapped between her calves, as she rolled onto her back to look up at him.

"Morning," he murmured, giving her his most irresistible smile, the one that lit his eyes in the purest baby blue.

"Morning." Her reply came out in the midst of a yawn that had her languidly stretching out all her muscles before she moulded her body into his side and placed her right hand on his naked chest. She was content to lie there for a few minutes more, the thought of dragging her body out of bed for breakfast and a shower before work not quite so tempting as being in the arms of her fiancé, enveloped in his comforting heat. But the insistent buzzing of her phone receiving a text had her reaching out to the bedside table she had commandeered.

_Don't bother coming in to the precinct today. Gates' orders; not mine before you get all snipe-y. Tell Castle he has to be here at ten for his interview._

Kate read the brief message, feeling Castle's eyes peering at her iPhone screen over her shoulder.

"Espo is definitely not feeling friendly today," he muttered. "You think we could talk Lanie into sweetening his day before I have to see him?"

Kate snorted, a swift reprimand rolling off her tongue whilst her elbow dug into his ribs. "Castle!"

"What? You don't have to sit in interrogation with the next _Hulk_!"

"It's just an interview, Castle," she replied, rolling her eyes with exasperation. "Besides it's not like it'll take long, you weren't even here for the murder. And if Espo gets a little _Macho Man_ with you, we both know it'll only be because you've made up some ridiculous theory."

"I thought you liked my theories, Detective."

"Well, there's another ridiculous notion right there." She had to fight to keep her voice level, to not squirm as she felt his arm tighten around her waist, pulling her until her back was flush against his chest and his breath was fanning her shoulder where her too large t-shirt had slid down her arm.

"I'm sure I could prove you wrong because see I have this theory that that isn't a ridiculous theory at all, that you in fact not only like my theories but you _love _them." She shivered pleasurably at the drop of his voice, something that didn't go unnoticed by Castle. "Am I right?"

He almost thought he was dreaming when he heard Kate gasp out, "So right, it's wrong," before twisting in his arms and assaulting his mouth with her lips. And her tongue.

* * *

"You're timing is excellent," Castle commented as Kate padded out of his bedroom, barefoot and still towelling her hair dry but wrapped in a fluffy bathrobe. "I've just finished the French toast."

Kate pressed a quick kiss to the underside of his jaw as she hopped into a bar stool beside Alexis who was already halfway through the last of her own French toast. As soon as she was done, she jumped down from the stool and grabbed her green handbag from the breakfast bar.

"Where are you off to?" Castle asked.

"Lanie asked me to drop by the morgue," Alexis answered with a shrug, continuing on her way to the front door.

"Let me know when you're leaving. I might be able to pick you if I'm leaving the precinct at the same time."

"Will do. See you later!" Alexis called as she disappeared around the edge of the front door.

"I don't know when she got so independent," Castle muttered, staring into the depths of his coffee, suddenly glum. "Making plans, going places, taking trips, new friends. All without telling me."

Kate sighed and bumped shoulders with him. "Come on, Castle, it's good that she's moving past Paris. You know it is."

"My baby's all grown up now." He couldn't help the melancholy sound of his voice.

"You make it sound like she's moving out and getting married, Castle."

"Oh God, don't say that. What if she is getting engaged?"

"Would you relax?" Kate rolled her eyes, tutting as Castle's eyes widened, letting her know that, no, he couldn't relax. "She's still only nineteen; I think you've got a year or two before you need to worry about one of her relationships getting that serious. Trust me, the closest Alexis is coming to getting married is being my bridesmaid."

He choked on his coffee, spitting the dark liquid back into the mug that bore his own name. "You-" he faltered for a moment, still in complete disbelief, before managing to get his words out. "You want Alexis to be one of your bridesmaids?"

Kate bit her lip, nodding and circling her hands around her own mug of coffee. "Is that okay?"

His lips met hers in an urgent kiss, his tongue tangling with hers. His words were barely audible, but Kate thought she just caught them. "More than." There was a clatter as the knife he had started buttering his toast with dropped onto the counter so his hands could push through into her damp hair.

"Castle, you're getting crumbs in my hair and I just washed it," she mumbled against his mouth, her forehead scrunching as she pulled away from him and frowned.

"Sorry," he said, though he didn't sound it. Nor did he look it, smiling he leaned his forehead against hers. "You're amazing, you know." His finger rested under her chin as Kate tried to duck her head, making sure she couldn't escape from his lips. He pulled away with a groan, when the phone beside his elbow began ringing. "Rick Castle speaking. Alexis? What?" Kate listened as he said uncertainly, "Okay..." He met her probing eyes as he stood and moved into the living room, picking up one of the remotes for the TV and switching it on.

Kate watched in confusion as he switched to a local news station and turned the volume up until even she could hear it in the kitchen.

"And our next story today…"

Kate zoned out as she saw Rachel Winter's face staring at her from the right hand side of the television screen.

Castle on the other hand was paying close attention.

"It was widely publicised earlier this month that Rachel Winters had been hired to plan the nuptials of mystery author Richard Castle and New York homicide detective, Kate Beckett. After a rocky start, witnesses of the couple's first meeting with their wedding planner reporting to news outlets that Detective Kate Beckett had a very public argument with Miss Winters, the relationship between planner and customers seemed to improve, though this was obviously a short-lived development. Yesterday afternoon, fellow detectives from the 12th Precinct had Detective Kate Beckett in interrogation, and with Richard Castle cutting his book tour short to return to New York City, it is expected he will be questioned today. Our reporter, Sarah Crane, is talking to Dennis Frome who witnessed Detective Beckett's argument with Rachel Winters."

"Kate, you don't need to see or hear this," he said, turning the TV off again.

"Too late," she muttered, having returned to her senses once the picture of Castle proposing to her had appeared on screen followed by a second image from the earlier days of their partnership when they'd been interviewed following the release of _Naked Heat_. "Normally I'm pretty accepting of these asshole news reporters, but this is just…"

"Outrageous, sick, disgusting…"

Kate nodded.

"It'll all blow over. Trust me, Paula will already be on the phone to every reporter in the city, biting their ears off about getting their facts straight, invasion of privacy. She can be a blunt pain in the ass sometimes, but she more than makes up for it with how good she actually is at her job." Castle tossed the remote control down on to the couch and checked his watch. "I should probably get going." He stopped in the kitchen, pressed a kiss to the top of Kate's head and grabbed the remains of his French toast, stuffing most of into his mouth whole. "I'll see you later," he said, words muffled and garbled by his full mouth.

Kate nodded absently, barely remembering to call goodbye before he shut the front door.

The second Castle stepped out of the building to head to his town car, the flashes started, cameras and microphones thrust into his face while so many people called questions, voices overlapping, it was almost impossible for him to understand the words.

Years of practise under his belt, Castle simply ignored the reporters and paparazzi, moving swiftly past them with the aid of his doorman and his driver. When he finally made it to the car and was safe in the back seat behind tinted windows, he sighed in relief. It may have been years since his first experience of being bombed by paparazzi outside his own home, but the claustrophia still went straight to his heart, making it race and pound. Thankfully, when his car drew up outside the 12th Precinct, there were no reporters trying to interview him and get a quote for their trashy newspaper. After a short journey four floors up in the elevator, he was back in the bullpen looking around for Esposito and Ryan, only to find them nowhere in sight and the murder board bearing Rachel Winters' name and photo tauntingly right in front of him.

Restraining the urge to whistle, Castle forced himself to act casual as he stepped up to the murder board to begin inspecting the case Esposito and Ryan were building. Before he knew it, his phone was out of his pocket and the camera on it taking pictures.

"Mr Castle!"

Castle whirled around at the bark. "Captain Gates?" He hoped beyond hope she hadn't seen him taking those pictures.

"Need I remind you that as a civilian you should not be in this bullpen? Get yourself a coffee and sit in the interview room, please. Detectives Esposito and Ryan are investigating a lead, they'll be back shortly."

Castle nodded and walked off to one of the interview rooms, sinking into a cushioned chair and pulling his phone out again to check his photos. Feeling Gates eyes burning into the back of his head, he exited the gallery and brought upone of his games instead, tilting the phone this way and that as he tried to get the cow up to the alien spaceship. He had no idea Esposito and Ryan had returned until the door shut quietly behind him.

"Hey, Espo," Castle greeted, turning around.

Instead of replying, Esposito gave him a tight nod before sitting opposite him, setting the manila folder tucked under his arm onto the table between them and opening it. He cleared his throat before starting. "When did you first meet Rachel Winters, Mr Castle?"

* * *

Kate was bored sitting on her own in the loft. Every so often she would glance at the TV, think about turning it on to see if they'd stopped reporting lies before dismissing the idea because she didn't want to be forced to listen to the reports if they hadn't. As well as the TV being out of bounds, she'd been forced to unplug the telephone after getting numerous calls from reporters. How they had Castle's home phone number, she didn't know – nor did she think she'd want to. She'd tried losing herself in one of Castle's books, her favourite in fact, only to have her mind stuck on trying to work out who would want to kill Rachel and why.

With no access to the case, she had texted both Ryan and Esposito with the message '_Call me when you can' _though neither of them had rung yet.

She almost jumped out of her skin when someone knocked on the front door. Frowning, she got to her feet, wondering who it could possibly be given that Alexis, Castle and Martha all had keys to the apartment and wouldn't have hesitated to let themselves in.

"Katie bug."

"Hi, Dad, come on in," Kate replied, opening the door wider and returning his smile. As Jim entered the loft, he brought Kate into a hug. "How are you?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that? Have you seen how many reporters there are camped outside the building?"

"So, you heard," Kate sighed, shutting the front door and leading her father to the couch. "You want a coffee?"

"Sure."

As Kate grabbed two clean mugs, trying to find ones that Castle hadn't bought to inflate his ego, she hoped she would be able to remember all of Castle's instructions on how to use his coffee machine. A day or two after he had left for his book tour, she'd been forced to return to his empty loft apartment, when her own place had suffered a burst pipe. It had been another day – a miserable day without coffee to fuel her – before she had caved and begged him to tell her how to make his stupid machine work.

She only had one minor burn when she handed her father a mug.

"How're you holding up?"

"Fine, I guess," Kate replied, refusing to meet her father's eyes as he scrutinised her, no doubt able to see her deception even without the eye contact.

He seemed resigned as he said, "If you're not going to accept support from me, I hope you're at least talking to Rick about this. He's going to be your husband, that's what he's there for."

Kate nodded, lost in thought, as she remembered Castle trying to talk to her, help her, the previous night and her deflection. She would talk to him when he got back from the precinct, she decided.

After a moment's silence, filled only by the quiet slurp of both Kate and her father taking sips of their coffee, Jim asked, "Apart from…this, how's the wedding coming together?"

"It's okay. We've got a venue for the ceremony and the reception."

"Yeah? Tell me more."

"The ceremony's going to be at Trinity Church." Kate peeked at her father sideways, watching for a reaction.

He swallowed hard, overwhelmed by memories for a moment before he nodded and asked, "And the reception?"

"Rachel booked us the Plaza."

"Wow, that'll be something. I'm not sure my old suit will do."

"You'll do fine, Dad. I'm hardly going to let my father be thrown out of my wedding reception. Who else is going to make the Father of the Bride speech?" Kate said, smiling softly. On the kitchen counter, her cell phone vibrated, the movement carrying it across the smooth surface until it threatened to fall over the edge. Kate was quick to pick it up and see the caller come up as the Precinct. "Sorry, Dad, I've gotta take this." She moved into Rick's loft as she answered. "Hello? Esposito, thanks for getting back to me."

* * *

Rick entered the loft, surprised to find Jim Beckett sitting on his couch.

"Jim, nice to see you again."

"You too," Jim replied, returning the sentiment with just as much sincerity.

"You here to see Kate?" Castle asked, removing his jacket and draping it over the back of one of the armchairs before he threw himself down into it.

"Yeah, wanted to offer my support. It's a circus out there."

Rick nodded. "Don't worry; I'm prepared to hire a bodyguard for her if needs be."

Jim smiled. "I'm not sure she needs it. I'll admit it's been a while since I've seen her throw a fist, but I'm confident she still packs just as much a punch."

"Well, she packs heat too," Castle joked. "I don't know many people who'd want to get on the wrong side of your daughter."

"She gets that from Johanna, she was just as fierce in the courtroom as Katie is in the interrogation room. Heck, Katie was fierce on the playground. I don't think Tommy Frost was ever the same after Katie punched him for ripping up some other boy's homework and calling him a wimp."

Castle chuckled, as much at Jim's words as the mental image he had of a miniature Kate Beckett beating up all the boys when they misbehaved.

"I'd have loved to have seen that." One of the things Castle enjoyed most about talking with Kate's father were the stories he told about her when she was younger. Kate would have been groaning, hiding her face in his shoulder or a cushion if she could hear. She'd always been pretty reluctant to let Castle hear those embarrassing stories. He still didn't know the full extent of her 'Wild Child' phase. Thinking about how his fiancée would react when she heard what they were talking about, Castle asked, "Where is she?"

"In your office, I think. She got a phone call a couple of minutes ago – sounded like it was someone from the precinct."

Castle nodded but stayed seated, knowing that if Kate had left her father in the living room she probably wanted the privacy. Neither he nor Jim missed it though when Kate's voice rose and carried out to them.

"Just tell me what you know, Espo! That's all I'm asking. I'm not asking to investigate; I just want to know what leads you have, whether you're getting anywhere!"

Jim met Castle's eyes, silently asking whether Kate was okay, given that her tone was near hysterical.

"She feels guilty," he explained a low voice.

"Guilty?"

Castle nodded. "Kate tried calling Rachel a few times, she didn't pick up and Kate feels that she should have tried harder to get in contact with her. She's convinced herself that if she had, she might have been able to save Rachel though I'm not really sure how she figures that since neither of us knew where her father lived and that was where they found the body."

Jim sighed, shaking his head. "I just hope she doesn't start slipping, doesn't get sucked into this like she got pulled into her mother's case."

"I won't let that happen," Rick promised.

Both Jim and Rick looked up as Kate walked out, plastering a smile on. "Sorry about that Dad. I thought you were bringing Alexis back with you, Castle."

Rick shrugged. "She and Lanie were apparently still catching up. I doubt she'll be much longer." The words were barely out of his mouth when the door opened again.

But instead of Alexis letting herself in, it was Martha breezing into the loft and declaring, "Katherine, dear, you must be so stressed. Come on dear, let me take you out for some retail therapy."

Kate was about to protest, making up an excuse that she was catching up with her Dad and it wasn't a good idea for her to be going out when the paparazzi were staking out the building, probably just dying to snap a picture of her, when Castle said, "That sounds like a great idea, Mother. Let me just call a car service and a bodyguard for you."

Kate sent a helpless glance in her father's direction, but instead of throwing her a lifeline, he just chuckled a little. "How about we have lunch together when you're done shopping?"

Resigning herself to the fact that her family were ganging up on her, with Castle already on the phone ordering a car and bodyguard, Kate agreed and allowed Martha to drag her towards the front door.

* * *

In the backseat of the car, Martha was talking a mile a minute. She'd been nodding along without listening for so long, Kate didn't realise that Martha had asked her a question until she felt her future mother-in-law's hand on her arm. "Katherine, dear?"

"Sorry, I was miles away." Kate smiled sheepishly, as she met Martha's concerned gaze. "What did you say?"

"I asked where you wanted to go, Katherine. Do you need any new cocktail dresses? Because a lovely new boutique I've been dying to visit has just opened in Soho."

"How about we make a stop and pick up Lanie and Alexis first? Lanie would kill me if I didn't give the opportunity to come dress shopping with me," Kate suggested.

Martha gasped. "You don't mean- Wedding dress shopping?"

Kate nodded.

"Oh, Kate, how wonderful!" She looked at Kate for a moment, noticing her easy grin and the spark of happiness in her eyes. "You've found the dress, haven't you?"

"Yeah. Well, Lanie found it actually."

"Tell me everything, kiddo," Martha demanded, twisting in her seat to face Kate as fully as possible.

* * *

Whilst Kate was in the dressing room of the store on Broadway with the shop assistant doing up the zip and the buttons at the back of the dress, Martha watched Lanie pull bridesmaids dress after bridesmaids dress off the rails and hold them up against her body.

"What do you think about this one, Alexis?" Lanie asked, holding up a deep purple asymmetric dress.

"It's nice," Alexis shrugged. "The colour suits you."

From the fitting room, Kate called, "Yeah, but does it suit you too?"

Lanie grinned as she watched Alexis' jaw drop. "Kate?"

Kate pulled the curtain of her fitting room aside and popped her head through, keeping the gap as small as possible so none of them could get a peek of her in the dress. "Yeah?"

"I don't know what to say."

"Say yes, girl," Lanie said. "I've only got twenty minutes of my lunch break left, and I wanna hear your answer first."

Alexis just couldn't believe it. Although she and Kate had been getting on really well since she'd returned from Costa Rica, they hadn't always seen eye to eye and she could easily recall a few embarrassing times she'd lost her cool with her dad's girlfriend. "You really want me to be a bridesmaid?"

"Of course, you, Madison and Lanie."

"I'd be honoured, Kate."

Lanie whooped and pulled Alexis into a hug. Laughing, Alexis returned the hug, meeting her grandmother's happy eyes.

"Are you done in there yet, Beckett? I took an early lunch break for you and I've yet to actually eat anything."

Kate rolled her eyes at Lanie's impatience, before taking a breath and pulling open the curtain of the fitting room so she could step out with the shop assistant holding her train.

She couldn't see her reflection in the store's mirror yet, but she could hear Martha gasp, see her place her hand over her mouth and whisper, "Oh, Katherine." She caught Lanie's satisfied smile and approving nod, and Alexis' excited gaze.

"Dad isn't gonna know what hit him."

"I look okay?"

"Okay?" Lanie exclaimed. "Kate, you look – I'm sure Castle could come up with a better word to describe you but you look amazing!" Kate glanced at Alexis nodding along with Lanie and Martha, whose eyes were remarkably liquid before meeting Lanie's gaze again. Still seeing doubt in Kate's eyes, Lanie carefully pushed her to stand in front of the mirror, skirting the train of the dress as she walked behind her.

"It's possible for us to replace the satin with silk, a few other brides have done that with similar dresses," the shop assistant said, rocking on the balls of her feet as she waited for her customer's verdict.

Staring at her reflection, Kate had to admit she looked beautiful. She'd always known she'd been blessed with good looks, but despite how many times Castle told her; she'd never felt quite so beautiful as she did then. She'd never felt a dress that was moulded to her body so well. She could feel Lanie, Alexis and Martha's eyes on her whilst she looked. Briefly meeting their gaze, she felt overwhelmed and couldn't help wishing her mother was there too.

* * *

From his office, Castle heard his mother call out, "Richard?" But he was busy sorting through the pictures he had taken at the precinct on his phone, uploading them onto his computer so he could input them onto his own murder board, a surprise for Kate since he could tell she was dying to investigate.

"Look's like the coast is clear, kiddo," Martha murmured to Alexis, opening wide the front door so Alexis could enter while carrying the large box Kate had entrusted her with.

"Are you sure? He didn't tell us he was going anywhere. Dad? Dad, are you here?"

Rick heard one of the women in his life moving towards the office and promptly shut his laptop and used the remote to turn off the screen he displayed murder boards and book plots on, knowing that both his mother and daughter would disapprove of his actions. "I'm in the office," he called out, already pushing back his chair and standing up. "Is Kate back from her lunch yet?"

"I'll run interference," Martha said, keeping her voice hushed. "You go and hide that."

But as Alexis started up the stairs carrying the box, Rick came out into the living room.

"What've you got there, Alexis?"

She froze at the sound of his voice. "Nothing," she was quick to say, trying to keep her voice level and cringing as her dad quirked an eyebrow at her, always able to tell when she was lying.

He strained to read the side of the box, saying out loud, "H and S Bridal." Alexis was already running up the rest of the stairs when the realisation hit him and he yelled out, "Oh my God, that's Kate's wedding dress, isn't it? Alexis, wait! Come back, I only want a tiny peek!"

He felt the sting of his mother's hand as she swatted him round the back of the head. "You'll ruin the surprise, Richard. You'd better promise not to go looking for Katherine's dress."

He nodded, trying to appear chastised until Martha removed her pointing finger and he thought of an excuse that he could use to get upstairs.

Martha's was suddenly in front of him, her hand in the centre of his chest, pushing him back towards his office.

"If you know what's good for you, Richard Castle, you'll stay in this office and start writing."

"B-but, I need to talk to Alexis-"

"-Which can wait until she comes back downstairs, I'm sure. Now sit."

* * *

"So, how was your shopping trip?" Jim asked as soon as the waiter had collected his and Kate's menus.

Her voice was quiet as she replied, "I got my wedding dress."

Jim didn't have to be a mind reader to know why his daughter looked to be on the verge of tears. Although he hadn't known Kate was going wedding dress shopping, he'd known she'd find it hard when she did. "She'd be proud you know. She would be so proud of you, Katie. Of how far you've come, of the life you've made for yourself." Kate nodded. It wasn't the first time she'd heard the words, hadn't wistfully thought them herself after she had first gotten together with Rick and finally discovered who had ordered the hit on her mother.

"I just wish she could be here, you know. I know she'd have loved Castle. I still remember her telling me about your wedding, showing me her dress and all the photos. God, that was so long ago."

"You were five, you told her boys were disgusting and you were never going to get married," Jim said, chuckling at the memory. "The only way Johanna could get you to change your mind was by telling you that you'd get to wear a pretty dress and look like a princess."

Kate smiled sadly along with her father.

"You know she'd want to be here too. I was the one who never wanted you to move out; not Jo. I wanted to keep you as Daddy's little girl forever. Johanna was more excited than you when you got your first boyfriend. She pestered you for weeks to bring him round for dinner. She couldn't wait to see you walk down the aisle on my arm."

"I know," Kate nodded. "Remember when I introduced you both to Joel?"

"Vividly," Jim answered, his tone making it clear that he still didn't approve of Kate's biker boyfriend from when she was seventeen.

"Come on, he wasn't that bad. Mom liked him remember," she laughed. "You just didn't like his tattoos, didn't want me getting any ideas-"

"-Which you did."

"Yeah, but you didn't know that at the time."

Jim stared his daughter down, unwilling to concede her point. "You weren't so secretive as you think, leaving your date book in the open when there was an entry for your tattoo appointment."

"You read my diary?!" Kate spluttered in horror.

* * *

Castle was in the kitchen with his mother and Alexis when Kate got back, the three of them conspiring around the island in the centre. Kate struggled not to laugh as all three of them froze like deer in headlights, still motionless as she shut the door.

"Kate, we were just talking about what we should have dinner-"

"-Yeah, right, Castle," she scoffed. "You really expect me to believe that? When you've got that little nervous tick going on with your eye?"

Castle clapped a hand over his left eye so she couldn't see the muscles twitching. Sometimes he thought it was a mistake to play poker with Kate. She knew all his tells; not that he didn't know hers. It made the whole thing rather pointless when neither of them could convincingly bluff to the other. He looked to Martha and Alexis for help, but his mother just touched his arm and said to him, "Sorry, kiddo, you're on your own."

"Hey, Alexis, can I talk to you for a second?"

Alexis nodded and followed Kate towards the stairs.

"This is about your dress, isn't it? Just tell me where you hid it, Alexis!" Castle called to them, only to be silenced by a look from Kate.

As soon as they were out of Castle's hearing range, Kate asked quietly, "He hasn't seen it, has he?"

Alexis shook her head. "Trust me; it's in the only place he has vowed to never go." Kate wondered at the mischievous grin reaching Alexis' eyes. "Let's just say that Dad isn't allowed anywhere near my clothes," she elaborated.

Kate was unable to hold back her laugh at the thought of Castle searching all of Alexis' room apart from her chest of drawers, and coming up empty. She could easily picture the little twist of his mouth into a frown, frustration and confusion at not knowing every in and out of the way Alexis' mind worked, at not knowing where she had hidden her wedding dress. She knew he would then try and trick them into revealing something, or perhaps beg for information from them, that familiar pout taking over his face. He really was a nine year old sometimes.

"Good thinking, Lex."

Alexis blushed slightly at the praise and shrugged. When Kate had asked her to take the dress back to the loft and hide it, she had been surprised.

"Surely it'd be safer at Lanie's place-" she'd tried to say.

But Kate had managed to convince Alexis that she thought she was the best person to hide the dress because she knew how her dad's mind worked, knew all the places he would think to look, and that Rick was devious enough to deduce eventually that Lanie might be involved.

Kate peered around the corner to look at the lower floor of the house, finding Castle pacing and muttering to himself.

"If I was a dress, where would I be?"

Martha shook her head at her son's antics, watching him from the kitchen still. She'd tried all afternoon to convince him not to even begin a search, but Rick was too stubborn. He would call it determination, but she knew better. Raising her voice, she called, "Katherine, dear?"

Kate appeared around the corner and peered over the bannister at her future mother-in-law. "What is it, Martha?"

"I'm going out to the theatre, darling. I told the students I would be there before the curtain rose for their performance. I thought you should know your fiancé is considering changing himself into a wedding dress though."

Kate's eyes flickered to Rick, still pacing and apparently unaware that they were talking about him.

"See you later, Martha," Kate finally replied as Martha gathered her coat, gloves and bag from the counter top.

Nodding, Martha waved to Kate and Alexis, and left, calling out, "Don't wait up for me," as she shut the front door behind her.

* * *

"I've got a surprise for you." Kate startled at the sound of Rick's voice so close behind her as she stared out of his bedroom window. She hadn't heard his approach, but turned to watch him take the final steps to reach her and hold out his hand. "Come on." She took the proffered hand and allowed him to pull her out into this study. "Now, just sit right here…" He helped her into the chair by his desk and then pushed her around the furniture until she was sat in front of his interactive white board. "And, just close your eyes." Kate rolled her eyes first, but complied after a moment. It was a few moments of listening to Castle's quiet movements and the slight hums he made every few seconds after accomplishing something, before he told her, "Okay, you can open them." He let her take it all in for a moment then asked, "What do you think?"

"You made a murder board for Rachel?"

"Well, for you," he amended. "I knew you wanted to investigate, was able to get a few pictures while I was at the precinct – almost got caught with my hand in the cookie jar – and voila!"

A slow smile spread over Kate's face as she watched her writer standing beside the murder board nervously. Taking pity on him, she stood up and cupped his cheek, pressed a kiss to the soft skin there. "Thank you."

His arms came up to surround her waist, tugging her closer, silently letting her know that he needed no thanks.

"What leads have we got so far then?"

His hands gripped her hips, spinning her around. "Before you immerse yourself in the case, that's not the end of the surprise."

Kate craned her neck, twisting her head to send him a quizzical look.

"The rest of the surprise is out here," he murmured into her ear, nuzzling the side of her neck with his nose for a moment as he walked her out into the living room with his hands still resting on either side of her body. Kate couldn't help the piqued curiosity and turned her eyes away from the scruff on the underside of Castle's jaw, finding instead Alexis looking anxious over by the couch.

Castle gave his daughter a nod and she smiled tersely as she picked up one of the remote controls from the coffee table, and at the touch of a button brought up the listings of the DVR.

Shocked, Kate froze, her weight settling fully against Castle as he ploughed into her back, only to find her heels dug into the floor. Alexis panicked at the look of grief Kate had. Her voice was a whisper as she said, "My dad called, didn't he?"

"I thought a _Temptation Lane _marathon might make you feel closer to your Mom." He walked around Kate and moved his hands from her hips to her neck, his thumbs resting on her face just in front of her ears as he stooped to be at her eye level. "We don't have to watch it if you don't-"

Kate cut him off with a single finger over his lips. Her eyes shone, tears threatening to spill at the lengths Castle would go to to make her happy. She didn't know what she'd done to deserve him.

"No, I want to. It's perfect, Castle," she promised, looking down at his hand as she laced her fingers through his and pulled him to sit on the couch, hoping to dispel his fears. His arm was a heavy, comforting weight around her shoulders drawing her into him, but she went willingly to his side, pulling her knees and feet up so she was curled around him. On his other side, Alexis leaned towards her father, and laid her head on his shoulder, ready to watch.

* * *

**A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Any thoughts on it are most welcome! Also, this story is only just about halfway through now, but I've had a thought for a possible sequel, so let me know if you'd be interested in one. Thanks for reading!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: So, Valkyrie was dramatic, huh? Amazing in so many ways. I'm still in shock that Andrew gave us two cliffhangers in a row, and that we now have to wait a week to find out how Castle is going to survive.**

**Thank yous go to hfce, htbuzz, MonicaKateBingCastle, psyrvaven, jellybean96 and the anonymous reviewer for their lovely reviews. **

**Also, apologies for this chapter being a bit later. I know I told one of you I would have this up on Tuesday, I just got waylaid by having to start packing all my stuff up since I'm going back to university for my second year at the end of this week. *Sigh* Anyway, I doubt any of you guys are really interested in that so I'll just shut up now.**

* * *

They were in the study, the murder board Rick had created on and both of them staring at it.

"So what's our first step?"

"Talk to Henry, I guess, see if he can tell us about when Rachel disappeared," Kate said. "I gave my copy of Rachel's card to Ryan, but you've got one too right?"

"Yeah," Castle answered, standing upright from where he had been sitting on the edge of his desk and rooting around in the back pocket of his jeans. Kate watched him pull out his wallet, ignoring the cash and the credit cards and instead looking in the section he reserved for pictures. She'd seen before the one of Alexis barely three days old, snuggled in his arms, and the one of her sitting on Castle's lap on a swingset, but there were others of her from over the years that Kate had only ever glimpsed. Along with all those, Castle had one of him and Kate from a photobooth he'd dragged her into one Sunday when she didn't have to work and he'd suggested going out for the day. Behind all that, Castle knew he'd stuffed the business card; he just had to find it. "Aha!"

Kate smirked at the proud tone colouring his declaration and took the card, picking up her cell phone to dial the office number Rachel had listed only to find Castle's fingers closing around her wrist.

"I've got a better plan. Why don't we head down to the office? The address is right here." He pointed at the business card.

Kate shrugged. "Just let me get changed."

* * *

Castle was still grumbling in the elevator up to the floor that _Six Degrees of Celebration_ occupied. "If you'd said you were dressing smart, I'd have a least put a button down shirt on."

Kate resisted the temptation to roll her eyes. It wasn't even like she was wearing a full suit. Just a plain white shirt and a tan blazer with her jeans and usual chunky-heeled boots. He was just, as usual, making a mountain out of a molehill.

"I thought you liked your _Green Lantern _shirt. I could lend you my _Superman_ one, if you'd prefer-"

He cut her off with a single look. "Why would I need a shirt when I have the costume?" He ignored Kate failing in her attempt to not smile as he tugged at the cuffs of his beaten jacket.

"Would you relax?" she asked with a roll of her green eyes. "You look fine. It's not like we're even officially working." She watched out of the corner of her eye as Castle continued to fidget and squirm, alternating between zipping his jacket up and then unzipping it after checking his reflection in the metal side of the elevator.

Finally he turned to her. "What do you think? Zip done up or not?"

"Castle, if I answer, will you stop fussing." She paused, waited for him to nod and then replied, "Undone." The elevator stopped. "Now remember, we're not outwardly investigating; we're here to offer our condolences," Kate warned as they stepped out and walked straight into a reception area. At the ping of the elevator and the sound of the heavy doors grating against grooves of the floor, the receptionist looked up and watched them approach. "Hi, we're looking for Henry Wyatt."

The receptionist gave them both a dirty look that didn't go unseen by either Castle or Kate before pointing them to down the hallway on her left. "Third door on the left."

Kate nodded their thanks and stepped away, leading Castle to Henry's office. They found the door open; the young man they had come to see sat behind his desk with his head in his hands. As if sensing their presence, even though they had yet to announce it, Henry dropped his arms and lifted his head, displaying red-rimmed, bloodshot eyes.

"Hi, Henry, sorry to intrude. I'm-"

"-Richard Castle and Detective Kate Beckett," he said. "I know who you are."

Kate swallowed, taking that to mean he had most-likely seen the news reports that had named her a suspect in Rachel's murder. Rick's hold on her hand tightened, fingers squeezing hers in an effort to pass on some comfort.

"Awful mess this is." Henry shook his head wearily. "I just can't stop thinking about poor Rachel. You're going to catch the bastard that did this, aren't you?"

"You don't think I did it?" Beckett blurted.

Henry surveyed her for a moment. "Rachel liked you, you know. When she came back from that first meeting with you, all she could talk about was you. She said you were ten times smarter and more respected than Nikki Heat ever could be." At Rick's look of surprise, he continued, "Yeah, she was a fan. It was why she was planning your wedding. Joan wanted to take it herself, but Rachel begged for days. I had to stay up all night with her creating the presentation that convinced Joan she was good enough to handle your wedding."

Speechless, Kate sank into one of the two chairs positioned in front of the desk and turned to Rick.

"You mind answering some questions?" he asked for her, squeezing Kate's hand again.

"I don't know what more I can do to help – I already told the other detectives everything I know."

"If you could just tell us again, that would be really helpful," Kate said, having found her voice again. "

Reluctantly nodding, Henry looked to Kate and Rick. "What do you want to know?"

"When was the last time you saw Rachel?"

Henry didn't have to think before he answered. "Friday last week. She said she was having one of her old friends from college visit that weekend and she'd see me on Monday if she made it out of bed. I joked that I'd have a stack of double espressos lined up for her. She winked and left."

"So she didn't come to work after her weekend off?" Castle clarified.

"No, she only had those two days booked off and was missing all week afterwards. At first I just thought she was too hungover to come in – she liked going clubbing at the weekends –but then she didn't come in on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday and then she… her body was found on Friday." Kate and Castle didn't miss Henry's pause or grimace as he was forced to say body. His voice was almost a whisper as he said, "I just assumed she was ill and couldn't be bothered to call in."

"Did you notice anything unusual before she disappeared?"

"People you didn't know hanging around the office? Rachel take any unexplained phone calls? See people who weren't clients? Mention any trouble with an old boyfriend?" Rick suggested.

"No. She seemed fine – busy and struggling with her dad's diagnosis, but fine."

"Her father's ill?"

"About a month ago, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Rachel had him moved into a home where he could be cared for. She felt awful for it, but she couldn't cope with it – this job is more than fulltime. The work goes home with you. That's why she was living in his apartment – packing up his stuff, so she could sell the place."

Kate nodded, unsure what to say. She'd known Rachel, but she was discovering she hadn't really known her at all. It was hard to reconcile the image of Rachel Henry was painting with the effervescent blonde who had introduced herself in _Starbucks. _

"What about this friend? Do you know her name?" she asked finally, locking eyes with Rick and hoping he understood the signal to get his writer's notebook out.

"Sorry," Henry shook his head. "But she might be in Rachel's diary – she used to sync it with the system here at the office." Kate and Rick waited whilst he searched through the computer. "Violet Little."

"Great, thanks," Kate replied, while Castle jotted down the name. "Hopefully she'll know something." She stood up, and led Castle back towards the office door.

"Oh, before I forget," Henry called, standing and rifling through the cluttered desk, opening and closing drawers, "somewhere around here, are those colour samples Rachel was going to give you, Detective Beckett. Got them!"

As Kate's hand closed around the thin strips of paper grouped together by a treasury tag, she found a lump in her throat. "Thank you," she murmured.

* * *

Back at the flat, Kate and Rick were updating their murder board, creating a timeline for Rachel's case.

"She was missing at least five days and nobody noticed," Castle lamented, shaking his head in a mixture of disbelief and sorrow. "How does that even happen?"

"We find Violet Little and maybe we'll find out."

Castle turned to nod his agreement, frowning in confusion as he watched Kate drag her phone out of her pocket and search through the contacts. "What are you doing?"

"Well we've got to find out where Violet is somehow. And I don't know about you, but I don't have access to the databases we need. Given that I've been wrongly broadcasted as a suspect in her murder, I doubt the bank is going to send me her credit information, do you?"

"And you think Esposito and Ryan will tell you where she is? Let me introduce you to Man's Best Friend, the internet." Kate narrowed her eyes, but sat back as Castle brought up _Twitter _and typed into the search bar Violet Little, bringing up too many results and, of the ones that Beckett could see, none of which seemed likely.

Kate scoffed. "If that's the best you can do, I'll get back to calling in a favour from Ryan-"

"Ah ta pa na," he said, making sounds rather than words. "I'm not done yet." As if making his point, he held up Rachel's business card. "Read out her _Twitter_ handle to me."

" 6DegreesWeddingsRachel."

Castle typed in the name and clicked the link onto Rachel's account as soon as it had loaded. "Now we just see who's following her and who she's following," he mumbled, opening both links in separate tabs.

"How do you know Violet's even going to be following her? You don't even know whether she uses _Twitter._"

Castle gave her a sceptic look. "She's what, twenty four? Trust me, she'll have one. Everybody has a _Twitter _account."

"I don't," Kate pointed out, crossing her arms in emphasis.

Castle was oddly silent. Too quiet considering she'd been expecting him to make some kind of quip about how ridiculous it was for her to not use any kind of social media.

Kate exhaled heavily through her nose. "You made me a _Twitter _account, didn't you? And, I bet you've been tweeting on my behalf, haven't you?" He didn't deny it and she groaned, just imaging the things he could have said, probably replying to his own tweets and boosting his own ego whilst he was at it. Just guessing the kind of thing he was likely to have put in her bio was bad enough. "Show me," she commanded, already reaching round him to requisition his laptop because she knew he would refuse. When his hands fought off hers, she tweaked his ear, but conceded that he was right when he said she'd have to look later because at that moment in time Rachel's _Twitter _account, or rather the possible account of Violet Little, was more important.

"There's a Violet," Kate murmured into his ear, her finger hovering millimetres from the screen of his laptop.

Castle opened the link to JustViolet's page and skim-read the bio underneath her picture. "Yep, looks like this is her. Says right here that her name's Violet Little and look, she follows the Yale Alumni account, just like Rachel."

"And this helps us find her, how exactly?"

"Patience, Detective," he muttered as he began trawling through Violet's recent tweets. "Well according to the location of these tweets, she's still in Manhattan. Got it, she's staying at the _Hilton Garden Inn _at Times Square." When he held his fingers up, Kate begrudgingly 'fed the birds'.

"Let's go."

"Wait, let me change this time please." Without waiting for an answer, Castle left his fiancée in his study and moved into his bedroom, able to hear Kate cursing his metrosexual ways. "Shut up, you love it really!" he yelled to her. "You'd never find a better dressed man than me."

* * *

"What room number is Violet Little in?"

"I'm sorry, we can't give out that infor-" Kate flashed her badge at the receptionist, feeling impatient and hoping the frustration played across her face. "Room 209."

Kate spun on her heel and walked to the elevators, her powerful strides drawing the eyes of every man in the atrium regardless of whether they were with wives or girlfriends, and a few women too, Castle noticed. He didn't miss the leers and lingering eyes of a group of guys waiting beside the other elevator. For a moment he felt the quick burn of jealousy, the emotion simmering within him until Kate rolled her eyes and shot him a small smile as they waited for the elevator to arrive at their floor.

Kate knocked on the door for room 209. After a few moments with not a sound to be heard from the room, and Castle would know because he had his ear pressed right up against the wood, she pounded her knuckles against it five more times and called out, "Violet? NYPD, open up!"

When the door suddenly opened, Castle almost fell right into Violet Little, whose name it turned out was not at all befitting of her stature.

"I swear I didn't do it," was the first thing that came out of her mouth. "I didn't kill Rachel."

"That makes two of us then," Kate replied. "Why don't you just tell us what happened last weekend?"

"Sure, I can do that." Violet stepped aside and let Rick and Kate into the hotel room, shutting the door and moving past them where they awkwardly stood waiting for her. "You want something from the minibar?" she offered, pointing them to occupy the sofa in her room.

Kate shook her head, but Castle took her up on the offer and accepted a chilled bottle of _Coke_. When the three of them were settled in seats, Kate asked, "So, what happened with Rachel this weekend?"

"Okay, I know it looks bad. I hit Rachel, I fully admit that, but it was a tiny argument – we had them all the time – and I left the club and came here instead of going back to Rachel's apartment."

"What were you arguing about?" Castle asked after taking a sip of his drink. "Start at the beginning."

"Okay, so she met me at the station that Friday as soon as she finished work."

"Do you remember what time that was?" Kate queried, looking to verify Henry's account of the last time he had seen Rachel.

"About five fifty, something like that," Violet shrugged.

"Okay, then what?"

"We went back to her apartment to drop my bag off, grab a bite to eat and get ready to go out. Rachel had promised me a night out at her favourite club – Sugarland-"

"-Isn't that a gay nightclub?" Castle interrupted, receiving a annoyed look from Beckett.

Violet nodded. "Yeah, Rachel liked it because she hardly ever got bothered by guys and there was less risk of getting drugged."

"So you went to Sugarland, what happened then?"

"Everything was fine; we were having a great time. And then her phone rang and she went outside to answer it. I told her to just ignore it and deal with whatever it was in the morning, assuming it would be something to do with her job, but she refused and left me there by myself. And when she came back, she looked really shaken. She was white as a sheet, practically shaking, but she wouldn't tell me what happened. I don't know if she saw something outside or whether it was the phone call, all I know is someone threatened her."

"Someone threatened her?"

"Yeah, that was what we argued about. She just said some guy had threatened her. I tried to get her to tell me who it was or at least what they wanted, but she refused, said they were too powerful, they'd no she'd said something and they'd kill her. I thought she was being ridiculous, making up an excuse to get me to agree to go home or something. I mean, why would anyone wanna threaten a wedding planner? It's not like she was planning the president's wedding, no offense," she added, glancing between Beckett and Castle.

"None taken," Kate replied, subtly digging her elbow into Castle's side to get him to stop looking so affronted.

"So, then she told me I was being a shit friend and I kind of lost it after that and slapped her. I left, caught a taxi and came here."

"And you didn't see Rachel after that? Didn't speak to her?"

Violet shook her head. "I tried calling her a few times, even went to her apartment because she still had my bag – it's why I'm still staying here – but there was never any answer. You don't think she was already dead, do you?"

For a moment, Kate considered sparing her feelings. "It looks like that could be the case."

"Oh God," Violet cried. "I should have just pushed my way past her stupid doorman. She died thinking I hated her!"

"Come on now," Castle murmured. "You were friends, she wouldn't have thought that. One argument wouldn't have changed that."

Violet nodded, but Castle's words didn't stop the tears from running down her cheeks. "Well, if that's everything, I think I'd like to be alone now."

"Of course. Thanks for all your help, Violet." Kate and Castle stood up and let themselves out, running straight into Esposito and Ryan.

"Hey guys," Castle greeted, smiling widely as if he was completely oblivious to the scowl spreading across Esposito's face.

"What are you doing here?" Ryan asked, looking between the two of them.

"Looking at rooms for the wedding," Castle said, not missing the defeated sigh Beckett gave or Esposito's snort at his stupid reason.

"I think you can do a little better than a honeymoon in New York at the _Hilton_ with your money, Castle."

* * *

Castle bounced his leg, watching Esposito and Ryan talking to Gates in her office, relaying the things Violet Little had told them. Not for the first time, Kate placed her hand on his knee and squeezed, trying to calm him.

"She's going to kick me out, I know it."

"And you know that if she does, you can talk your way back in. I'm sure one interview with the press about how disappointed you are not to be helping to solve New York's homicides would be enough to have hundreds of letters, emails and phone calls from your biggest fans sent to the Police Commissioner."

"Don't forget to include yourself in that description," he joked, determined to get her to admit she was his biggest fan.

Before she could shoot him down, Gates' office door opened and their two teammates left.

"You two, in here now." It was clear from those few words that Gates was mad. As soon as Castle shut the door behind them, she asked, "What am I going to do with the two of you? I tell you you can't investigate and what do you do? You go and do it anyway. When I tell you to stay at home, I mean it. Now get out of my precinct and leave this case alone."

Defeated, Kate led the way, whilst Castle tried to rein in his jubilance at not being fired as Beckett's partner.

Outside the precinct, while they waited for a free cab they could hail, Castle was still celebrating.

"I thought for sure I was gone. She was madder than when I smashed that doll, remember?"

Beckett nodded absentmindedly. "Yeah, I remember, Castle."

"You okay?"

She sighed, "Yeah, I just really want to find Rachel's murderer. We were onto something too. I wonder who threatened her."

"You don't think it was Bracken, do you? She did say it was someone powerful."

"Castle, why would Bracken have our wedding planner killed?"

He shrugged. "To tell us he's not finished with us. To make sure we're never happy, I don't know."

"Because that's what he cares about," Beckett deadpanned as they slid into the back of a taxi. "No, we have a deal. I've held up my end; he's got no reason to not hold up his."

"He could have found out you don't really have the file."

"If he had, he'd have had me killed; not Rachel," she said in a low voice, flicking her eyes to the cab driver. "Now, given present company, maybe we should talk about something else."

* * *

Sat at the table, Beckett stared at the colour samples, comparing two different shades of red and wondering why they had different names when they looked exactly the same. She'd been leafing through the slips for thirty minutes and she still didn't have a clue what colour scheme she wanted to use. She knew Lanie was rooting for wearing a purple bridesmaid's dress and that that would mean she should get flowers to match, probably lilacs; but she couldn't stop admiring a beautiful shade of turquoise and was stuck because she didn't know what kind of flowers she would be able to get to go with that. How was she supposed to decide?

"Hey, Castle?"

"Yeah?"

"I need your help with something."

He came out of his study, with a book on the Physics of Falls in his hands.

"Purple or turquoise?"

"For…"

"Just answer the question, Castle."

"How can I answer if I don't know what it's in relation to?" he complained. "Is this about the wedding?"

Kate nodded and set the samples back done on the table, sighing in frustration.

"Give me five minutes and I'll be right back to help," he promised, skidding across the floor in his socks as he hastened back into his study and hurriedly finished typing his train of thought and replaced the book he'd been using for research back onto the bookshelf. After saving the chapter, he gathered the papers he had printed before inspiration for Nikki had struck and forced him into writing. When he emerged, he found Kate staring at the samples again. "I'm back." He spread the papers out onto the table, trying to make sure everything was within reach but also completely visible, before he sat down beside her.

"What's all this?"

"Ideas," he said simply.

"Ideas?"

"Yeah, you know, themes, current trends, though I still think a murder themed wedding would be most appropriate for us. I bet we could hire Mother's actors to do a fake murder for entertainment at the reception. Instead of confetti, the guests could throw fake blood at us."

"Somehow, I don't think the Plaza would be very happy with that and I'd rather keep my dress white, thanks."

"Oh, so it _is_ white?"

Beckett cursed internally at his ability to weasel information out of her.

"Well if that's a no on fake blood, we could always just use red as our colour scheme," he suggested, not seeming at all put out by her stamping her feet on his idea. "Red roses, red bridesmaids' dresses, red napkins…"

Appearing at the top of the stairs, Martha declared, "Oh no, red is far too overdone this season. And red roses, Richard? How unoriginal."

"Always a pleasure, mother," he muttered under his breath, earning himself a swat from Kate.

"What colour do you think then, Martha?"

"Lime green and yellow would be a fabulous combination."

Kate winced at the mental image of wedding pictures of her bridesmaids wearing yellow or lime green. Trying to be tactful, she just said, "Maybe."

As she came down the stairs, Rick noticed the heels, bright red lipstick she was wearing and the vibrant, patterned dress that had replaced the usual matching pants and jacket. "Where are you going?"

"Fishing," was all Martha said, as she checked her face in a handheld mirror before dropping it into the outside pocket of her handbag and zipping it up.

"Funny, you don't look dressed for that."

"I was invited to a lunch date by fellow thespian, Barry Bostwick. He said he was a fan of my work in _The Incredible Hulk_."

"Have fun," Kate told her.

"But not _too _much fun," Rick added, ignoring the eye roll from Kate and the flat stare from his mother. When the door shut behind her, he turned his attention back to debating themes and schemes with Beckett. "How about blue? I know you like me in blue." He gave her a salacious smirk and wiggled his eyebrows, referring to the last time he had worn his midnight blue button down – the one Kate had been so eager to get him out of, she had pulled all the buttons off when she ripped it open.

Ignoring his flirting tone, she asked, "You want to wear a blue tux?"

"Yeah, you're right. I'd look like I was out of some corny 80s movie or going to my first high school prom. I could wear a blue tie though."

"I just don't know." She was so exasperated that the words came out in the midst of a growl fuelled by her impatience and fraying temper. "Maybe we do need a wedding planner-"

"-I think you're forgetting what we've already accomplished. You've got your dress, which I'm sure is astonishingly beautiful even if you won't let me verify this fact myself, and you've got your bridesmaids. We've got a venue for the ceremony _and _the reception. I've gotten your father's blessing." He grinned as Kate rolled her eyes at that. "I'm whittling down the many choices for the important position of being my Best Man." Kate shook her head, knowing he was struggling to choose between Javi and Kevin, and no-one else had yet offered to take the role. "Knowing Lanie, your bachelorette party is already planned and booked."

"Yeah but the wedding is only two months away."

"We'll manage," he insisted, rubbing his thumb across the back of her hand. "You just need to relax. We'll work out the kinks along the way."

He was in the process of massaging her tense shoulders, when his cell phone rang, the vibrations carrying it across the surface of the table towards him. Paula's face looked up at him from the screen along with her name.

"Sorry, I guess I better take this." He didn't move from behind Kate as he answered, one of his hands still resting on her shoulder while the other held the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

"Richard, is Kate with you?"

"Yeah…" he answered, shooting a look at Kate to find her already watching him.

"Can you put me on speaker phone please?"

"Okay," he replied, noticing Kate's quizzical glance and lifting his eyebrows in response to show that he was none the wiser about what was going on. After pulling the phone away from his ear a moment to switch the speaker on, he said, "You're on."

"I've managed to get word to the media that you aren't suspects in Rachel Winters' murder, and retractions were printed this morning. I don't know if you saw the news this morning either. _WNBC_ made a formal apology to you both. Now what we really need is to get your faces out there, in the public eye to show that you're above all this gossip and put people's fears to rest. Therefore I've arranged for you both to attend the premiere of _Naked Heat _tonight. I trust that those plans are okay with you both? You ought to have already been planning to go, Richard, it was just a difficulty trying to work your book tour in around your wedding."

Rick met Kate's eyes before answering, "I think that's fine, Paula."

"Great, I'll need to meet with you beforehand to discuss the red carpet and coach you through what to do and what not to say. Expect me at say… six o'clock."

* * *

"Kate, are you done yet?" Castle called, waiting outside his own closed bedroom door.

"Just give me five more minutes," Kate yelled, hearing his bored footsteps pacing outside. She was just pushing a stud into her left ear, not bothering to look in the mirror, when she heard the door knob start to turn. "Castle."

"Just one look?"

"I thought you liked surprises, Castle."

"Okay, if I can't look, can't you describe it to me?" he requested, almost begging. "Hey, that's an idea. Why don't you just describe your wedding dress to me? Then I can stop looking for it."

"I never made you start looking," she pointed out, straightening her dress, her fingers sliding easily over the satin, and adjusting the strapless top before taking a final inspection to make sure her bra wasn't peeking out. "You can stop anytime, the sooner the better actually. It's not like you're going to find it, so you might as well just give up."

"Is that a challenge I hear?"

Beckett gave an exasperated sigh and wrenched the bedroom door open. All her irritation disappeared, however, at the widening of Castle's eyes as they roved over her body, lingering far longer than necessary on her long legs and her boobs, both accentuated by the mid-thigh cut of the dress and the low neckline.

"Castle? My eyes are up here, remember?"

He didn't even look abashed as he finally looked her in the face. But then again, neither did she look displeased by his actions. In fact, he seemed to mirror her, an unbelievably wide, happy smile dominating his face.

"You look far too gorgeous. I don't think I should let you leave the loft."

"Paula wouldn't be very happy with that, would she?"

"Screw Paula," he muttered, watching her lips press together as she held her amusement back. "God, you look good in dark green." He groaned at the horribly pleasant tightening in his suit trousers.

"Later, Castle," she promised, patting his chest as she squeezed past him and silently thanking Lanie for convincing her to buy the dress a month or two ago.

"You wore green on purpose, didn't you? Because you know that's my favourite colour, right?" he called after her.

"I thought red was your favourite."

"Changed my mind," he said under his breath, remembering the first time he had really looked into Kate Beckett's eyes and decided that that particular shade was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, even if he knew that hazel eyes only looked green because of the mixture of yellow and brown tones. When Kate wore green though, the colour seemed to come alive in her eyes too. It always reminded him of the first rays of dawn bathing a forest, the sunlight streaming through the leaves on a tree and turning them a lucent pale green.

Castle followed Kate out to the living room, well aware that he was still sporting a dopey grin and that his eyes had focused on Kate's butt as she walked in front of him.

"Richard, darling, make sure you close your mouth on the red carpet. You wouldn't want a picture of your drooling making it onto _Page Six_ now, would you?"

Kate smirked, and used a finger to push Castle's jaws shut herself. After that, she toyed with his sloppily tied bowtie and soothed the lapels of his suit, unable to keep her hands off him when he was dressed so handsomely.

"You both look marvellous," Martha complimented when Kate finally dropped her hands and allowed Castle to catch one in his. "We'll be watching." She nodded towards the TV, where she and Alexis already had the news coverage of the red carpet playing.

"We'll see you later," Rick replied.

"Have fun!" Alexis exclaimed just before they left.

Kate couldn't help the flutter of her heart as Castle helped her into the limousine they were using instead of his usual town car service. It was all so different from what she was used to, and she felt the stab of nerves alongside her butterflies. What if she tripped in her heels on the red carpet? That would be ironic, wouldn't it? Chasing down criminals in them every day without ever landing flat on her face, only to lose it the second she was put in front of a camera.

As if sensing her unease, Castle poured her a glass of champagne and inched closer to her side. They were quiet on the journey to _Ziegfeld_ _Theatre. _The silence filled with anxieties was only broken by sparse comments on what they expected from the movie.

"Did I tell you they've already greenlit _Heat Rises_?"

Kate shook her head and responded, "That's great. I'm sure Natalie will be pleased, though if I end up getting a request from that Nathan Fillion guy asking for an interview so he can find out what it's like to get shot, I'm saying no. I don't think I could cope with another actor hanging around."

Rick chuckled.

"Think they'll let you write the script this time?"

He shrugged. Despite petitioning twice to be allowed to do the screenplay for the _Nikki Heat_ films, the producers had yet to take him up on the offer.

When they arrived at the theatre, Castle was first out of the car, stepping out with a wave to the fans gathered on either side of the red carpet before turning back and gentlemanly helping Kate through and elegant exit. The flashes started as soon as her first foot touched the ground, the rest of her not even visible; just her perfect legs that were obviously enough to inspire a frenzy.

As they made their way down the red carpet, occasional stops for Rick to sign books and even a few _Heat Wave_ DVDs, Kate found herself beginning to acclimatise and relax into Rick's hold on her waist.

"Richard," a greying reporter shouted, calling them over to his microphone and camera. "How are you, man?"

"We're great, aren't we, Kate?"

Kate nodded and smiled as she met his beaming eyes.

"How are the wedding plans coming along?"

"Obviously we've suffered a setback, and are deeply upset by Rachel's loss, but we're getting there." Rick was careful to keep his tone sombre, as instructed by Paula earlier that evening.

"Is there a date yet?"

"October fifteenth," Rick answered with a sharp nod.

"You both look amazing tonight? Who are you both wearing?"

"Armani."

"J. Mendel," Kate said afterwards.

"What a stunning pair you make. Well, we've all read the book, Rick, any word on whether the film is going to be just as good?"

Rick gave an easy laugh. "There were no set visits this time around so I'm afraid I'm just as much in the dark as you are, Simon."

"How about any teasers for Rook and Nikki's next adventure then? Have you started working on it yet? Is there are wedding in the works?"

"I've got some ideas in the pipeline, but it's still a little early to be handing out hints. Kate's continuing to be an inspiration," he said, squeezing his fiancée's side as he mentioned her name and watched a blush rise to her cheeks, "so who knows what could happen."

"Thanks, Rick. It's always a pleasure. I hope you enjoy the movie."

Rick and Kate both shook hands with Simon Gray and continued up the red carpet, looking over their shoulders as the fans' raucous screams announced the arrival of Natalie Rhodes. It was another twenty minutes before she caught up to them outside the movie theatre.

"Hey guys," she greeted. "Kate, you look fantastic!"

"Thanks, Natalie, you too. How are you?"

"Oh, I'm great, out of rehab for good this time." Natalie waved her hand, letting it be known that her drug addiction was water under the bridge. "More importantly you two finally got your act together! Can't say I don't regret not being able to complete my research, Rick," she added with a saucy wink, "but you look good together."

Rick was dumbstruck as Natalie left them and entered the theatre.

"Did I imagine that? Because I swear that sorta stuff only ever used to happen in my head." he finally managed to ask.

* * *

"It's still weird," Beckett decided in the limo ride back to the loft as she leaned against Castle.

"What is?"

"Watching Natalie do me." She wrinkled her nose. "I don't like it."

"Well, you know she doesn't do you completely. She doesn't kiss like you-" At that, Kate's eyes flashed with jealousy. She hated thinking about Natalie Rhodes thrusting her tongue down Rick's mouth in the precinct, and had already been reminded about that once that evening.

Claiming him, Kate grabbed Rick's tie and used it to pull his lips to her, smirking as he groaned and pulled her to straddle him.

The driver chuckled as the screen between him and his passengers went up. It was always the same with celebrities. They never remembered that whilst the screen prevented him from seeing what they were up to, it was far from soundproof and he could still hear Kate gasping, "Castle! Oh, God, Castle!" as he marked her neck with his teeth and lips.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, so I finally finished this chapter at gone midnight, after spending all afternoon and evening writing. I hope you guys appreciate that! Let me know what you think of the chapter!**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Apologies for the slight delay in updating this story. I was busy packing and moving into my house for university, and there are nine of us living in it so everything's just been quite hectic for a few days and things are quite distracting, especially since I'm trying to appear somewhat sociable... It literally took me four days to finish this chapter.**

* * *

It was hardly surprising that in the absence of being able to work on Rachel's case, Kate and Rick were able to get most of their wedding planning done in record time (all at the same time as moving all of her stuff from her apartment), though it still felt like they had a mountain to climb.

_The offer to move in with him had felt out of the blue to Kate. Although she still had all her furniture in her own apartment and the warmer half of her wardrobe she reserved for New York's cold winters, much of her stuff had slowly migrated into Rick's bedroom and study the longer she was there. It hadn't really occurred to her that it was odd they were getting married and yet she still hadn't officially moved in with him because in her mind they did live together. _

"_Kate, we're going to be late for the cake tasting!" Castle whined, checking his watch again. Muttering to himself, he said, "It's like standing vigil waiting for her."_

_After standing beside the front door for another ten minutes, Castle exhaled in a puff and abandoned his 'vigil' to actively seek Kate out, expecting to find her still doing her makeup or hair or something. He thought she'd at least be dressed, but instead she was kneeling in his wardrobe, still just wearing a t-shirt and underwear. Although he appreciated the view and what the underwear did to Kate's ass, Castle had to laugh at the image._

"_Shut up," came Kate's reply. "I can't find my beige jeans or those red canvas sneakers." She sat back on her haunches, looking at him over her shoulder with disappointment. "I think they must be back at my apartment."_

"_Well we could always just move them here. Everything else has gotta come some time," he laughed, the sound fading as he realised Kate had frozen with her lips popped open into an 'o'. _

"_C-Castle, are you asking me to move in with you?"_

_He shrugged, not getting what the big deal was. "Well, yeah, it makes sense, doesn't it?"_

"_That's not why you're asking though, right?"_

"_You live here anyway. Mi casa es su casa and all, remember?. Casa de Castle has been your home for a while now, Kate."_

_She nodded. "I'm still keeping my apartment as an investment though," she cautioned. "I'll rent it out or something."_

"_Kate, we're moving into together not drafting a business contract. You can do whatever you want with your apartment and what's in it. I don't care as long as you're here and you're happy."_

The only hiccup in their wedding plans came one afternoon as they were sat around the table, making seating charts, each table named after a crime fighting duo (at Castle's insistence, after Kate shot-down his proposal for each table to be named after a character from his books).

"Have you decided who's going to be your Best Man yet?"

Castle laid down his pen and leaned back from the table. "No. You know I wouldn't have this problem if you hadn't stolen my prime candidate to be one of your bridesmaids."

"You would have asked Alexis to be your Best Man?"

"Yeah," he replied, smiling softly. "She was only a flower girl for Gina, you know. I wished then that I'd thought to have her be my Best Man. She was only six, but she would have looked adorable in a tuxedo. Still would."

"But what about your bachelor party? Wouldn't you have wanted Espo and Ry to organise that anyway?"

"Are you kidding? Alexis would organize something great – the world's biggest laser tag competition, or an entire weekend paintballing."

"Well, we could always share her," Kate offered, feeling guilty even though she had had no idea that Castle had wanted to ask Alexis to stand at his side at the altar.

He shook his head. "She's happy being your bridesmaid. I'll probably just ask Javi and Kev to both be Best Men, divide up duties between them or something." He shrugged, aware that Kate was still looking doubtfully at him.

"I don't min-"

"Well, I do mind, okay?" He maintained eye contact until she nodded minutely. "So, Demming and Karpowski on the _Starsk_y and _Hutch_ table with Perlmutter-"

"-Castle," Kate interrupted, holding up a piece of paper with his writing on and squinting at it. "Does this table say _Charlie's Angels_?"

"They fight crime," he said, immediately taking a defensive tone.

"Yes, but the crucial part is that there are _three _of them not two. Let's just make this table _Poirot _and_ Hastings_."

"But _Hastings_ wasn't _Poirot's _only partner or sidekick! He's like the _James Bond_ of crime; he gets around with those partners."

"Who then?" Kate asked, already crossing through _Charlie's Angels_ with her pen. "_Dupin_ and _Anonymous_?_ Scully _and _Mulder_? _Hoag _and _Lulu_?"

At each suggestion, Castle shook his head, making excuses like, "We've already got a human/dog partnership," or "They solved paranormal cases, not crimes."

"_Spade _and _Archer? Addison_ and _Hayes_?" Kate found herself running out of ideas. "_Clouseau_ and _Fong_?" She didn't even like the _Pink Panther _films, but the detective and his manservant were the only names that popped into her head.

"What about that TV show that Alexis and her friends liked? What was it called?_ Fringe_?"

"You just threw out _The X Files _because they didn't solve conventional crimes," she pointed out.

"And?"

"_Fringe _is exactly the same, Castle. It's about fringe science, alternate universes and has three main characters not two, which is what started this whole damn problem in the first place. We should have finished all of this by now and instead we're still arguing over what names to give the stupid tables." Kate threw her pen down and pushed her chair away from the table, her frustration carrying her further than she had originally intended as she stood up and dumped the cold dregs of her coffee in the sink. "I'm going to go for a run," she muttered, leaving Castle sat at the table as she stormed into the bedroom, pulled her t-shirt over her head and threw it with all her might into the washing basket. Castle was hovering in the doorway, trying to decide whether to talk to Kate or to let her to work out her aggression first. Although Kate could feel his presence behind her, she ignored him and pulled out her sports bra, technical t-shirt and running shoes.

"I'll take my phone and be back later," she said as she turned and found him still standing in the doorway, blocking her exit.

His lips were pressed together in displeasure, but he nodded anyway and stepped out of the way, knowing it would be easier for them to talk once she had had time to cool down. He also knew that the big issue was in fact _not _that he couldn't decide which crime fighting duos to use as names for their tables or that they were behind with the planning; but that it had been two weeks and Rachel's case was still unsolved and likely to be closed and left as a cold case.

Just as Kate reached for the handle on the front door, it twisted away from her fingers and the door began swinging towards her, Alexis on the other side with her cell phone tucked between her shoulder and ear.

"Oh, sorry, Kate!" she exclaimed. "I had no idea you were there." Kate waved her off, but Alexis' attention had already been reclaimed by whoever she was on the phone with. "I just got back. No, she's going for a run, by the looks of things-" Kate frowned, wondering who she was talking to. Before she knew it, Alexis was holding her cell phone out to her. "Lanie wants to talk you."

"What is it Lanie? Can't it wait, because I'm just about to head out for a run?"

"Girl, what has that man done now?"

"It's nothing, Lanie," Kate sighed, as she bent down and adjusted the fit of one of her sneakers.

"Don't you lie to me, Kate Beckett. I know you. You only work out when you're frustrated about something, so what has he done?"

"I'm fine, just need to go out and exercise – I'm going stir-crazy being in the loft all week. Look I'll talk to you later. The wine will be on me."

"Okay," Lanie replied, not sounding at all convinced by Kate's excuses. "Pass me back to my lovely intern then."

Kate nodded, assuming that Alexis and Lanie were arranging her next shifts, so that she could avoid having to work under Perlmutter, the Medical Examiner as kind to Alexis as he was Castle. Even though she could only hear one half of the conversation as she pushed the earbuds of her iPod headphones into her ears before pressing play on her playlist of fast-paced workout songs, it was enough to rouse her suspicions.

"No, I can keep that quiet. Yeah, I'll talk to Grams tonight when she gets back from teaching her mime class."

* * *

Kate staggered through the front door while Rick was tossing stir-fried vegetables in satay sauce and Alexis set the table.

"Kate, are you okay? How far did you run?"

"I'm fine," she wheezed. "It's just been a while since I ran 10k."

Abandoning the stove, Castle let his feet take him to his fiancée. "Are you sure? You want me to run you a bath, help relax your muscles?"

Kate shook her head. "A shower's fine." With a quick kiss pressed to his jaw, Kate toed off her running shoes and carried them in her hand, dropping them by the wardrobe before going into the ensuite bathroom.

The beating of the shower on her weary muscles was soothing in a strange sort of way, and when she came out of the shower and wrapped a thick towel about her body, she felt more relaxed than she had in days. Any and all tension that had been coiled in the lines of her muscles was gone, stretched out by the run or dissipated by the warmth of Castle's shower.

"Kate, dinner's ready!" Alexis called, dragging her from her thoughts.

After rushing to get dressed and put her dirty clothes in the laundry hamper, Kate entered the living room to find both Rick and Alexis seated but waiting for her before they began eating.

"You didn't have to wait for me."

"Oh, we're not. Mother requested that we wait for her. She's due back any minute." The words were barely out of his mouth when the front door opened and Martha flew in, taking off her silk scarf with dramatic flair only she possessed. Her garishly turquoise snakeskin bag was dropped beside her chair as she seated herself with an exaggerated sigh.

"Gram?"

Castle was ignoring the theatrics, piling rice onto his plate before dragging the crock pot containing all of the vegetables towards him.

"Oona Marconi's debut book flopped last month so she's back to writing career-ruining reviews. My poor students have borne the brunt of this week's attack after their performance of _Kindertransport_."

The melodrama continued despite Kate and Alexis' reassurances that no-one would pay attention to one theatre review. Kicking Castle's shin under the table, Kate shot him a glance. The shake of his head was minute, but she just widened her eyes and inclined her head until he gave a defeated sigh. "It's true, Mother. No-one pays any attention to reviews anymore. How do you think I sell so many books?"

Throughout the meal, Kate could feel Rick's eyes lingering on her, shooting her what he apparently thought were secret glances every few seconds. His worry was so palpable, Martha was forced to call him out on it.

"For heaven's sake, Richard, whatever it is, spit it out. You're thinking so hard it's disturbing our dinner."

Again, Rick's eyes flickered to Kate, drawing her own gaze. Sighing, Kate picked up her plate and wine glass and pushed the chair back.

"Where are you going?" Rick asked.

"Somewhere we can talk."

Rick followed Kate into his study, where she had moved aside his laptop and set her plate and drink on the desk before pulling up the armchair he kept by the bookcase for when he was researching or just reading for pleasure.

"So, what's on your mind?"

"You ran out," he blurted, closing his eyes in an internal wince as he reprimanded himself for not phrasing it better. But when he opened them, Kate was just standing in front of him, nodding steadily.

"You're worried that now I live here permanently and I don't have anywhere else to escape to I'll just leave," she guessed, her heart sinking. It was her fault that he was concerned about her leaving – she hadn't exactly given him much reason to trust her in the past, not after all her secrets and the length of time it took her to let him into her heart. She sighed, wondering how she was supposed to convince him that she would always love him, always want him and never willingly leave him. "Yeah, I went for a run. But, Castle, I came back. You know that sometimes I have to work out to de-stress, but I'll always come back." Her hands were running across his shoulders and down the front of his chest.

"You wore yourself out, Kate. Surely there's a better way we can deal with things than you just going running on your own. We're getting married; we have to be in this together."

"We are in this together, Castle. I didn't go out running to avoid talking about things; I went running to blow off some steam so that I wouldn't bite your head off over the table names and make things ten times worse."

"Oh, well about that…" He trailed off as he ducked out from under Kate's hands and hurried around his desk so that he could pull open one of the drawers and take out the wad of paper containing all of their planning. "Here, I finished the seating plan." He handed her the uppermost piece of paper – an A3 piece folded in half down the middle – with twelve circular tables and one rectangular drawn on, each with an array of names. At the very top of the page, Kate read her own name and Castle's sat in the centre of the toptable that had been named _Holmes _and _Watson_ after the very best crime fighting duo. On either side of them sat Martha and Jim, and then Lanie, Javi, Alexis, Ryan and Madison, all of them split between Beckett's side of the table and Castle's.

Beyond the toptable, some of their other colleagues had been placed on the _Starsky _and _Hutch_ table. Rick's writer friends and the team from _Black Pawn_ were all seated at the _Poirot _and_ Hastings _table. The _Turner _and _Hooch_ table was reserved for a mixture of their college friends. Distant family, cousins and aunts and uncles, were put together at the _Scully _and _Mulder _table (Castle apparently relenting on his supernatural cases argument). Kate's friends from the police academy were sitting with Castle's socialite friends at the _Dupin _and _Anonymous _table, leaving the rest of the tables (_Bishop _and_ Dunham, Brennan_ and _Booth_, _Addison _and _Hayes_, _Batman _and _Robin_, _Rizzoli _and _Isles_, _Stetson _and _King_ and _Holt_ and_ Steele_) occupied by random acquaintances the couple had picked up over the years, either through cases, research of odd happenstances.

After a moment of silence, unbearable silence, Castle asked, "So, what do you think? You want me to switch around where my socialite friends are, don't you?"

"It's fine, Castle," Kate assured him. "More than, actually. I can't believe you did all this."

"I just want to make you happy, Kate."

"And I am," she promised, maintaining eye contact until it became impossible when he pulled her into his arms and rested his head atop hers. Their food grew cold on the desk whilst she was ensconced in Castle's heat. He barely heard her murmur, "We're actually doing this, aren't we?"

Resisting the urge to make a quip about standing hugging in his office, he said instead, "Getting married? Yeah. We're halfway there, Kate."

"The time's gone so fast." She was almost wistful in tone, wondering how a month had passed them by since Rachel had announced in the middle of _Starbucks_ that they were getting married on October fifteenth. The past two weeks, she'd hardly even been working since Gates didn't trust her not to investigate Rachel Winters' murder. Anytime she was in the precinct, she was allocated all new cases, the simple ones that weren't at all 'Beckett flavoured' so that she had less chance to find out what Esposito and Ryan knew.

"We don't have much left to do you know."

"We don't? We still haven't made favours or a gift list. We haven't chosen readings or hymns for the church, the music for the reception. And what about the honeymoon and invitations – they're not organised either."

Castle shook his head at her, all the while giving her a catlike grin. "All done."

"Done?"

He nodded. "Alexis posted all the invitations for me earlier this afternoon. I made a quick list online – not that we really need anything – and emailed Reverend Green the readings and hymns we talked about, as well as sending a few texts around to see if Ryan, King and Mother wouldn't mind reading them."

"Oh, Castle."

He tightened his hands on her waist at her grateful tone and pressed his lips to her hairline, inhaling in the scent of her beloved cherry-flavoured shampoo. "It's all taken care of, I promise. And although she won't give me the sordid details, Alexis swears that your bachelorette party is all organised-"

"-What?" she cut in sharply. "Oh, God, I never spoke to Lanie about that!" In a mad scramble, she broke free of his arms and dashed into the bedroom, seeking her cell phone. Castle followed her, watching her pull back the bedsheets and take her books off the bedside table as she searched for it. "Castle, instead of just standing there, why don't you make yourself useful and call the damn thing so I can find it."

He tried unsuccessfully not to smirk as he pulled out his phone and dialled Kate's number.

Kate didn't even exclaim as she retrieved her phone from underneath the bed – _how on earth did it get there? – _she just hurriedly pulled up her contacts and called Lanie, pacing as she waited for the line to connect. "Oh God, she's got a stripper, I just know it. What was she thinking – Martha and Alexis are gonna be with us?"

"Kate, Mother would probably enjoy a stripper more than Lanie," Castle chuckled, earning him an accusatory glance, a 'Not helping, Castle' look that only deepened as Kate's eyes narrowed when Lanie didn't pick up and she left a message.

* * *

Kate hadn't been able to get in contact with her Maid of Honour for a week, a week filled with dread and anxiety at the thought of being lumbered with a stripper whilst in the company of her innocent, nineteen year old soon-to-be daughter-in-law. She hadn't been informed of what Lanie's bachelorette party plans were, not even to clear a day in her calendar. Castle was at Black Pawn, rearranging his book tour for when they returned from their honeymoon (the location still unknown to Kate) and she had been called into work.

"Okay, what is it that's so urgent, guys," Kate demanded the second she saw Esposito and Ryan crowded around the monitor on his desk, squinting at a grainy CCTV image.

"This look like Rachel to you?" Esposito asked, nodding to someone behind her. With the slight wave of his hand, Kate dismissed the action and didn't see it as the warning before someone whipped a black bag over her head, much like when she had been working the so-called _Linchpin _case with the CIA. For a brief moment, she cursed, _Not again_, before thinking that the CIA were hardly likely to throw a bag over her head and kidnap her from the precinct.

"Guys?" she questioned as hands landed on her shoulders and began manoeuvring her back towards the elevator until she stubbornly dug her heels in. "What's going on?"

Whoever was trying to steer her and get her out of the precinct, pushed harder before swearing, "Damn you, Beckett, why'd you gotta be so difficult?!"

"Lanie?"

"Well, who did you think it was?" her best friend inquired, ignoring the astonished tone, as she pulled the black bag back off Kate's head and revealed herself. "Now stop acting like a petulant child and at least come out to the car before you start complaining."

"What would I have to complain about?" Kate asked sarcastically, not even needing to point at the black bag Lanie still held to get her point across.

Down on the street, Kate found a minivan cab waiting with Martha, Alexis and Madison all inside it. Lanie shoved Kate into the back unceremoniously before taking the front seat and instructing the driver where to go.

"I guess introductions are unnecessary," Kate muttered as she listened to Madison tell Alexis a story about one of their high school adventures.

"Oh, Kate, honey, you'll be needing this," Lanie called from the front seat, holding a garishly pink sash out to her. She didn't have to look to know that it read 'Bride' and grudgingly accepted it to put on.

"So where are we going?"

"Uh uh, you aren't getting anything out of me, Kate Beckett. I planned this bachelorette to be a surprise and it is staying that way, no matter how much you dislike that."

Kate rolled her eyes and twisted back to face Martha, Maddie and Alexis.

"Don't worry, Kate, you're going to love it," Alexis reassured her in a whisper, hoping to be quiet enough that Lanie wouldn't hear her over the purr of the engine as they navigated their way through New York City's busy streets and right out of the city via the Holland Bridge.

During the journey, Kate felt Madison's eyes on her and when she met them, it was obvious what she was thinking.

"Don't even say it, Maddie."

"What? I haven't said anything!"

"I can tell you're just dying to tell me that you told me so," Kate countered. "It's all over your face."

"Well, I _did_ tell you that night that you'd change your mind about the so called 'bad boy.' You always do."

Over four hours later the cab pulled to a stop outside _The Mirabeau Inn and Spa_, a resort with grass greener than the alterations that were made to grass in movies during post-production. Lanie was the first out of the car, totally unaffected by the view since she'd seen it all online and in the brochures whilst she was booking their three day spa retreat, but Alexis, Martha, Madison and Kate all stopped and stared at the picturesque, German castle-like buildings, colourful trees and shrubbery and the beautiful lake in the centre of the complex with a beautiful blue bridge spanning between the two banks.

Although their destination was no surprise to Martha, the actress having been clued in by Alexis when Lanie had booked the spa retreat, she still said, "Excellent. I've been dying to have some treatment done for ages, but can't be doing with those poor excuses for spas in the city."

Lanie handed everyone their bags from the boot, surprising Kate since she hadn't known anything had even been organised for her or that she would even need a bag. "I'm going to go and check us in, get the keys for out cottage, why don't you guys check out the bridge?" she suggested, hiking her weekend bag over her shoulder and starting off. When she returned with their set of keys, Kate and Alexis were playing _Pooh Sticks _on the bridge.

"I used to love playing _Pooh Sticks _with my mom when I was little," Kate confided in Alexis, though everyone else could still hear her.

"Dad used to play with me in Central Park. He always took it so seriously, spending about fifteen minutes finding what he thought was going to be the perfect, winning stick."

"Sounds like Rick," Kate laughed.

"Okay, ladies, here you go," Lanie said, handing out bedroom keys for their cottage.

* * *

The five women were in the sauna after the first of their sessions with the skilled staff of the resort. Kate could still smell the strawberry-flavoured exfoliating mask that had been used on her face every time she breathed in.

"So, just to clarify, Lanie, there are no strippers hiding in the cottage."

Lanie cackled. "Unfortunately no, though I'm sure it's not too late notice for me to call someone."

Figuring it was best to call Lanie's bluff, Kate replied, "Oh, you have some contacts you never told me about?"

"I did tell you that Damian is an exotic dancer, right?"

"As in Damian, the new bartender at the Old Haunt?!"

"The very same," Lanie said with a grin. "So, should I give him a call? See if he can rustle up some friends for us?"

Kate laughed, her only excuse when she later regained her good judgment that the heat of sauna and the empty champagne flute beside her had messed around her senses. "Why not? It'll be fun."

* * *

**A/N: Again, apologies for the slight delay. Thank you to those of you who have been reviewing this story. I'm glad you're enjoying it. Let me know what you think. The next chapter will include Rick's bachelor party. Obviously I've planned what's going to go down but if there's something you'd like to see happen just hit me a review and let me know since I'm more than willing to take requests as long as it fits in with the planned storyline.**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Thank yous are going out to Anarra, htbuzz, alwayscastle2, hfce, jellybean96 and the anonymous reviewer! Thanks also if you have either followed or added this story to your favourites. **

* * *

"Kate, what are doing? You better not be texting Castle."

Kate span around to face Lanie, careful to keep her arms in a naturally loose position as she held her phone behind her back, trying to tap the screen so she could send her half-finished text. "Of course not," she replied. "I was just looking at the painting. It's kind of relaxing, don't you think?" She gestured vaguely towards the painting behind her, forcing her face into a neutral expression as Lanie's eyes flickered towards it before coming back to rest upon her.

"You ain't foolin' nobody, girl. Hand me that phone." She waited with her hand out until Beckett sighed and relinquished it into her possession. "I thought we agreed on a no boyfriends or fiancés rule."

Kate resisted the urge to correct her best friend, because it had been Lanie who had insisted that they were having a long girl's weekend and that contact with their guys was forbidden. Instead, she just said, "Where's everyone else?" They had all come back to their cottage, though the term was pretty ridiculous for their accommodation since everyone had their own room. With the communal areas: the kitchen, living room and the dining room, all of which were sizable, the building had a floorplan that was far bigger than any normal cottage and was on two floors.

"Martha went for a hot stones massage, Alexis said she was gonna do some lengths in the pool and Madison said to tell you she was getting a full body massage with Antonio, the hunkiest masseuse this place has to offer. You, girl, are booked in for the same treatment in about ten minutes, so get your butt into gear."

* * *

Rick shuffled in the seat of his car, raising his butt off the leather so he could pull his phone out of his back pocket and stop it vibrating against his ass. Unfortunately Beckett's text had to wait until he was parked in his building's garage.

Hefting his grocery bags into his arms, Castle stepped out of the car, pushing the door closed behind him with his foot before pressing the lock button on his keys and walking off to the elevator. The bags were heavy in his arms as he used his hands to open Kate's message on the way up to his floor. His eyebrows scrunched together as he tried to make sense of the random jumble of letters at the end of the text.

_Lanie kidnapped me from work. You didn't know about that, did you? We're at Mirabeau Inn and Spa, so need to worry about strippers, though knowing Lanie I wouldn't rule it out completely. Part of her planned weekend is probably to have us thrown out by the end of it. Gotta keep this message short because she's instigated a no talking to boyfriends rule. Hope you're not too lonely by yourself. I love you. Opi io lpo._

Before the bags became too heavy to balance inside the hold of his arms, he fired off a quick text, peering over the handles of his carrier bags to see the screen as he typed, _Sounds fun. What was that last part? Love you too._

When he entered the loft, it felt so unbearably quiet and empty without his mother, daughter or fiancée. He only paused to deposit the groceries on the counter and shove the one with all the refrigerated foodstuffs into the fridge before walking back out the front door and down to the lobby, hailing a cab on the street to take him down to the precinct where he would be able to find company in the form of detectives Esposito and Ryan.

Unfortunately for him, he ended up with the most talkative cab driver in all of New York City and from the moment he sat down in the backseat until his exit outside the 12th Precinct, the greying man was babbling away at him, his voice the perfect replacement for his absent radio.

"Hey, Castle," Officer Velasquez nodded to him as they passed as he hopped up the steps outside and into the building, the familiar woman heading to a cruiser with her partner for the day and speeding away, sirens blaring as they left for a crime scene.

"Velasquez," he said, greeting her with a wave before calling after her, "Esposito and Ryan here?"

"Sorry, I've got no idea, I'm not working with the guys up in Homicide today. We're stuck being dogs' bodies for a couple of Vice detectives today."

Leaving Officers Velasquez and Johnson on the street, both of them so similar in appearance and so often partnered together that they were sometimes mistaken for each other, Castle continued into the precinct, flashing a smile and shaking his head at the officer on the front desk as he passed and stepped into the open elevator, squeezing in between two foreboding-looking lawyers in suits. He smirked at the thought that he could tell from just one look their profession. It had been a skill he'd developed over years of banal observations of people wherever he went, stemming from his habit of making up a backstory for every person he saw whenever he was bored. The leather briefcases both of them carried were dead giveaways.

Once the two lawyers stepped out of the elevator on the first floor, he was left on his own, staring at the ceiling light as it flickered and humming to himself to stop his imagination running wild with the idea that he would once again be caught in a broken elevator, fearing for his life.

When the doors opened on the floor the Homicide division occupied, Castle had to duck behind a desk barely seconds after exiting as Gates stormed past. He had no idea whether he was allowed in the precinct – having received no word from Esposito, Ryan or the Captain herself on whether he and Kate were trusted enough to not begin investigating Rachel's murder again. As soon as she was gone from sight, Castle straightened up, adjusting his suit until it looked as if nothing had happened, only to look up and find Esposito and Ryan standing in front of him, smirking.

"What were you doing down there, Castle?"

"Just tying my shoelace," he lied, smiling along with them.

"Uh huh," Ryan nodded, giving him that look where his eyes narrowed and his lips parted slightly as he obviously doubted what his excuse. Esposito looked just as unconvinced, shaking his head with a wide smile. "So what are you doing here?"

"Come to tell us all about your bachelor party or something?"

"Yeah right," Castle snorted. "You guys will probably be the only guys on the invite list."

"You not gonna invite your writer buddies?" Esposito asked, complete surprise suffusing his voice.

Castle shrugged. "Guess it depends on who my best men decide to invite." He kept his voice nonchalant, but his eyes were trained on both of them watching the shock play over their faces.

"Best _men_?"

"Yeah, why would you guys rather compete for a singular position?"

Espo and Ryan turned to one another, seeming to size each other up, before returning their attention to Castle after apparently deciding that it either didn't matter who would win, or that they would be too evenly matched. Castle was inclined to believe the former, that neither Esposito nor Ryan were interested in fighting it out and were simply honoured he wanted both of them to be his Best Men. Of course, the image of them physically fighting it out appealed to him too.

"Just to be clear-" Ryan began before Rick cut him off.

"-I want you both to be my best men. So, is that a yes?"

"Bro, what do you think?" Esposito asked, grinning as he clapped Castle on the back, probably harder than was strictly necessary.

"Ryan?"

"Sure, just be prepared for us to get you back after Atlantic City."

"Atlantic City?" Castle asked, wondering what had apparently been so terrible about the impromptu bachelor he had convinced Esposito to help him throw for Ryan before he married Jenny. Okay, so they'd been stuck working a case, but they'd had fun, right? They'd gambled, seen a burlesque show, probably partied far too hard, but had experienced the city the way every guy who'd ever gone to Vegas did – by getting thrown out of the casino.

"Yeah, you know, forcing us to dress up as Elvis," Ryan said, his tone completely conversational, calm and serious.

"Come on, guys, it wasn't that bad. It was for the case!"

Neither Esposito nor Ryan was swayed by his desperate tone as he made his defensive. When he said it was for the case, Esposito quirked an eyebrow but was otherwise unaffected.

"You sure you weren't just doing it for a laugh?"

"Espo, I swear, it was for the case! I'll admit I enjoyed it, like any guy should, but I didn't plan it or anything. It just happened!"

There was a moment of dangerous tranquillity as Esposito stared Castle down with a gruff expression; arms crossed in front of his chest only making him appear sterner. Beside him, Ryan imitated his partner, though he didn't manage to quite pull of the same level of threat with his posture. Before five seconds had passed, both of the detectives began to laugh at the look of fear and panic on Castle's face as he thought that both of them were actually still annoyed about the events in Atlantic City from two years ago.

"Real funny, guys."

Castle's tone only made Ryan and Esposito laugh harder. As he wiped a fake tear from his eye, Esposito said, "Okay, Castle, leave it with us. We'll throw you a proper bachelor party."

"Great. You guys wanna meet up for drinks at the Old Haunt tonight?"

Ryan shrugged. "As long as Jenny doesn't mind. I'll call her later and check, but sure. Why, are you bored already, Castle?"

"Do I need an excuse to catch up with you guys? I feel like I haven't seen you in ages. Don't tell me you don't miss me? It must be so dull being at the precinct everyday without one of my amazing theories to solve your crimes and get you off work early."

"I don't know, it's been nice and peaceful, wouldn't you say, Ryan?"

"Yeah, even Iron Gates has been more easy-going."

"I think this is the happiest I've ever seen her," Espo added. "She wasn't even this cheerful when you gave her that freakin' ugly doll."

Castle grimaced at the memory of accidentally smashing the captain's collectable and the resultant wrath that had been hounding him ever since. "Yeah, that was _not_ a good day." As Gates reappeared and walked the warpath to her office, he hurried back to the elevator with a call of, "Talk to you later!" over his shoulder.

* * *

Castle's afternoon began with staring at a blank word document as he waited for inspiration to strike, but he found himself just missing his muse instead so he gave up on the idea of kick-starting Nikki and Rook's next adventure (Kate having vetoed his idea of having their doubles make a foray over to England) and left his laptop open at his desk. He checked his phone a couple of times to see whether Kate had texted again, even sent her a few witty ones himself, but deduced that Lanie must have confiscated her phone because there was no forthcoming reply. Then, only _Guitar Hero _and _Call of Duty_ could hold his attention.

* * *

Castle ducked inside the bar he owned, nodding to his staff inside and smiling as Eddie immediately began a rendition of what had become Castle's personal theme tune as soon as he caught sight of him. He spotted Esposito already standing at the bar, holding a twenty dollar bill out to the bartender before he grabbed the three pints he'd bought and walked over to their group's usual booth. Castle followed and slid into the seat beside Ryan.

"So, how's the bachelor party coming along?"

"Great, we've got Vegas booked already," Ryan replied, taking hold of his pint and having a long draught.

"Vegas? Seriously?" Castle exclaimed, excitement pulsing through him.

Esposito just gave him a flat look. "No, not seriously, Castle. This isn't _The Hangover._"

Trying not to look disappointed, Castle said, "Well, whatever you guys decide will be fun. What do you reckon the girls are up to right now?"

"Jenny's friends took her on a shopping extravaganza and for dinner," Ryan offered rather than make a guess as to what Lanie had planned whilst Esposito just shrugged.

"Lanie didn't tell you what she had planned?" Castle asked, looking at Espo.

"We're not together anymore," he said by way of answer, staring into the bottom of his drink as Ryan and Castle shared a significant look.

An awkward silence fell as Ryan and Castle searched for something to say to their friend. Eventually Castle returned to the topic of his bachelor party and asked, "So have you got any ideas at all yet?"

"Castle, you only asked us this morning. Unlike some people, Ryan and I have been at work all day," Esposito half-snapped.

"So that's a no?"

"If you don't drop it, I'll trick you into cross-dressing at your bachelor party."

"I could pull that off," Castle replied, imaging himself in a wig and make-up.

"In one of your mother's outfits?" Esposito challenged.

Lips contorting, he shuddered at the mental picture. "_Nobody _could pull that off." If he was being honest, he didn't even understand how his mother managed to look good in her oddly tailored suits, mismatched prints and odd colour combinations. Somehow it just worked. He supposed that it was her personality that blended the outfits together and caused people to view them differently. "I'd be fine in Kate's clothes, though I'm not sure we'd be allowed in anywhere-"

"-If you don't stop talking about this right now, Castle, we'll still be sat here tomorrow night and then there won't be a bachelor party because Ryan and I won't have had time to organise anything."

"Keep your…" Castle paused as he realised he could hardly say 'hair' when Esposito hardly had any. "Keep your shirt on, Espo. If not being with Lanie makes you this moody, for the sake of everybody else, just get back together with her." He ducked down as Esposito threw his beermat at his face.

Interceding before anything too terrible could start, Ryan said, "Well, we managed to do _some _research anyway while Gates was busy fending off news reporters calling for information on the Steve Martin robbery case. Apparently the new craze is-"

"-Skydiving," Esposito interrupted, seeming to have perked up again. "So, what d'you say, Castle? Wanna jump out of a flying plane?"

"Don't listen to him. He's just pulling your leg."

* * *

The next evening as he pulled on his purple shirt and did up the buttons, Castle found himself panicking and wondering whether Esposito had in fact managed to convince Ryan that they should take him skydiving for his Bachelor party. He'd heard no more from Kate, nor had he been able to get in contact with her. When he called, her cell phone just rang and rang, and he thought that leaving four very similar messages was obsessive enough.

Esposito and Ryan had texted him that afternoon telling him to dress smart and that they'd pick him up at eight. So there he was at seven forty five, deftly pushing the buttons on his sleeves through the holes and sliding his watch onto his left wrist, checking his pockets to make sure he had his phone and his wallet. When he had no more mundane tasks to occupy his worried mind, he sat on the arm of the couch and twiddled his thumbs, occasionally cracking a knuckle to displace the pocket of air in the joint. Kate usually slapped his arm for doing it, but she wasn't there and he didn't have to feel guilty.

Finally, Esposito and Ryan announced themselves with a knock on the door and a call of his name, obviously having been let into the building by the doorman who usually recognised them since they were such frequent visitors.

"Coming!" he shouted back, grabbing his jacket from the back of one of the dining room chairs and pushing his arms through the sleeves on his way to open the front door. "Hey guys."

Instead of greeting him back, Esposito commanded him to turn around and then tied a blindfold around his head using an old scarf.

Instantly, Castle's mind dropped to the gutter. "Is this some weird form of bondage guys?"

If Kate had been there, the roll of her eyes would have been as audible as her exasperated sigh. Instead he just had Espo telling him, "You wish."

With Ryan at his side, he was guided into the elevator and down out onto the street and then into a car. From there, he had no idea where they were going. His attempts to guess their destination by counting the number of right and left turns they took were foiled when the city's traffic jams made it impossible to tell the distance they had travelled. Finally, the cab stopped permanently and one of the guys helped him out of the cab and pushed him through a doorway. A cheer rose up at his appearance and Esposito whipped the scarf off his head, revealing the Old Haunt and a collection of his writer buddies standing beside a sign that read, 'Kiss your single life goodbye, Castle!'

* * *

**A/N: Okay, Originally I was going to make this chapter longer and have it go at least most of the way through Castle's bachelor party, but one of my housemates has been pestering me for the last hour because he wants me to play Age of Empires with him, so it kind of became impossible to continue. Anyway, let me know what you think and don't forget that if there's something you think should happen at the party, let me know!**


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